You're Braver Than You Believe
by Ava Miranda Dakedavra
Summary: "I'm Ginny," she extended her hand to him, smiling as he shook it, "Are you single?" "I-I what?" Bruce stammered and blinked at her as she took her hand back. "Yes, Ginny, what?" Harry asked, frowning a little as he paid no attention to Hermione. "Not me, Harry, don't get your knickers in a twist," she snorted, "I'm asking for Hermione." "What?" Hermione gaped at her.
1. Why Are We Friends Again?

**The prequel to my other story, "**_**You're Stronger Than You Think.**_**" Anybody who has read that knows what will happen in the end. Although I'll probably continue on into it, as it needs to be re-done. If that does happen, I'll change this title to the same thing. Summaries are parts of the newest chapter unless I continue on. I hope you'll enjoy.**

**Also, this is before Bruce becomes "the other guy," so right now he's just a regular scientist dude. Later on, however….**

LINE

"Alright, I'm lost," Bruce announced, frowning at the sidewalk as he stopped and looked around at the cute little shops and buildings, "I don't really think this is London."

He sighed, running his hands through his hair, glancing at his watch before groaning. He was supposed to be at the London Eye twenty minutes ago. Lost _and_ late, this definitely wasn't going to go well with the board.

"Oy, slow it!" somebody yelped, making Bruce wince and flinch back as somebody else screamed and collided into him. A loud laugh was soon heard, chuckles as well as Bruce's vision was obscured by brown.

"Shut it!" the brown was lifted, as well as some of the pressure on his chest, although there was still something tangled with his legs. He winced and blinked up at the young woman, who looked down at him and shot up, stepping out of his legs and blushing down at him.

"Oh my Mer - ! I am so sorry, I wasn't paying attention, these two should've warned me, I didn't see you. I'm so sorry, it was an accident, but then again why would I run into you and knock you onto the sidewalk on purpose when I barely even know you, are you hurt? Are you alright?" she babbled as Bruce began to laugh a little, making her shut her mouth and blush even redder, moving to step away, only to be halted as somebody gripped her arm.

"She's very sorry," one of the men said, grinning down at Bruce as he sat back on his hands as the woman continued to blush, "Wasn't looking where she was going."

"Shut it, Harry," she muttered, looking away from Bruce as he began to grin at her, taking in her crazy brown curls as she fidgeted in her friend's hold.

"It's alright," Bruce chuckled as he stood, "Nothing's broken."

The ginger was still laughing, trying to form sentences and failing as she tried to escape from Harry's hand. Another woman, a redhead, strode up to them and looked at the scene curiously.

"What's with Ron?" she asked Harry, tilting her head to him and arching an eyebrow.

"Hermione ran into him and knocked him down," Harry grinned at Bruce, "Ron's finding it very funny."

"Ah-hah!" she let a light laugh out and turned to Bruce, grinning, "Sorry, you alright?"

"Fine, thanks," he grinned back as the woman – Hermione – grunted and leaned back to try to get away from Harry and the embarrassing scene, although Harry only stood there.

"I'm Ginny," she extended her hand to him, smiling as he shook it, "Are you single?"

"I-I what?" Bruce stammered and blinked at her as she took her hand back.

"Yes, Ginny, _what?_" Harry asked, frowning a little as he paid no attention to Hermione.

"Not _me_, Harry, don't get your knickers in a twist," she snorted, "I'm asking for Hermione."

"_What?_" Hermione gaped at her as Harry choked back a laugh, Ron doubling over by now, "Ginny, no!"

Ginny ignored her, turning back to Bruce, "So are you?"

"Err – yes," he blinked back.

"Because my mother is always harping on about how Hermione needs a boyfriend, and she's worried about her and blah yadda-yadda blah," Ginny sighed, "And you seem fairly interesting, at least by my standards, and that's pretty hard to do, so I think I can deal with seeing you at family functions, because Hermione is practically family and she has to come, and she's going to have to bring a date to appease my mother that she won't die alone with that cat of hers. Although it is a very cute cat, I have to admit, only a few months old."

"Oh, Ginny, why?" Hermione whimpered through her hands as she lowered herself onto a bench, Harry laughing with Ron now.

"There's really nothing wrong with her, she's rather shy, actually, despite how she can smack around any of the boys, including these two. She's really brainy, really smart, knows practically everything, and I reckon she doesn't look too bad, but of course I don't swing that way so I can't really give you a proper 'guy' answer," Ginny shrugged, making Hermione whimper even more and make Harry and Ron crumple against each other as they laughed.

Bruce only stared at her for a moment before looking at Hermione, fighting a smile, "Quick question – where is the London Eye?"

"London Eye?" Ginny questioned as Harry caught his breath and stood, helping Ron up, "Mate, you're definitely not in London."

"You're actually pretty far from London," Ron grinned, "Why?"

"Just missed a meeting," he sighed, rolling his eyes as he checked his phone, looking at all of the angry text messages and voicemails that awaited his attention. He glanced back at Hermione, who was shaking her head with her hands still covering her face.

"Oh, Ginny, why would you do that, why would you _say_ that? I already embarrassed myself in front of him before, and then you waltz along and muck everything up further," she muttered, mainly to herself as Ginny wasn't paying attention to her. She uncovered her face and glared at her, "_Why_ am I _friends_ with you?"

"Because you're friends with him and him, so by default you're going to want to be my friend as well," she shrugged, waving to Harry and Ron, "Because, let's face it, you can't stand hanging around with two boys all the time, and therefore need me."

"Gin, you're such a tomboy though," Ron shook his head, "Mum always wanted a girl. Don't think she ever really got one."

"Shut it!" she frowned, "She did too, and she named you 'Ronniekins.'"

"Oy, break it up, or he won't date her because it'll mean he'll have to hang out with us too," Harry waved the siblings away from each other, grinning as Hermione dropped her face back into her hands.

Bruce chuckled as Ginny and Ron both looked at him pleadingly, turning to Hermione and smiling down at her, "Do you like coffee?"

Hermione immediately ripped her hands away from her face and looked at him curiously, "Pardon?"

"Or we could go somewhere else. I really don't know where anything is, so your pick."

"Are you stark raving mad?" she asked, blinking up at him, "Even after my friends were completely and utterly _them_, you're considering going out with me?"

"Yes," he nodded, smiling at her.

She stared at him for a moment before sighing and standing, "I'm going to completely ignore them now, just so you know. So, ahh…coffee?"

"Sure, I'm not picky," he shrugged as Ginny danced her victory, Hermione leading him away as she shot a quick glare to the three.

Harry, Ron and Ginny only grinned cheekily at her as she rolled her eyes and turned her attention back onto Bruce.

LINE

**Ta-daaaaahhh!**


	2. Oh, Hello There, I Think I Know You!

**To _Valkryie Evans_: It's alright. I think the same thing. And I'm the author of both.**

**Ummm…yeah. *claps hands together* Not much to lead into on this one. This first part is probably their second or third date.**

* * *

"How long are you staying, anyway?"

"Huh?" Bruce turned and blinked at her, seeing that she was looking up at the sky with her hands behind her back as they walked down the sidewalk, her patiently waiting on him to finish checking messages on his phone while he simultaneously wondered why he gave these people his private number.

"How long are you staying in the UK?" she asked, turning to look at him now, head tilted.

"Quite a few months, why?" he asked, smiling at her curiously now.

"Oh, no reason," she shrugged, smiling now as she turned her eyes back onto the sky as he chuckled and grinned at her.

* * *

"I hear Professor Granger is the best in the field of medieval studies," Doctor Fitzherbert told Bruce while the younger scientist drifted in and out of focus as to what he was saying.

"Why are we listening in on a lecture that a university professor is teaching about _medieval studies_, anyway?" he asked as one of the other scientists of the board drifted into the building.

"The best way to know about the future is to look into the past," he told him.

Bruce nodded and jumped when somebody called him, looking down at his phone and smiling when he saw it was Hermione, "I'll only be a second."

"Yes, yes, I'll save you a seat," he nodded as Bruce eagerly answered his phone. He couldn't remember being this excited about talking to a girl before, not even when hormones had complete control of his mental steering wheel.

"Hello?" he asked her.

"Oh my god, I'm going to get fired," she told him in a frantic rush, screaming a little.

"Why is that?"

"I'm so late, so unbelievably late, I am _white rabbit late_!"

He chuckled, "I doubt you'll get fired for it though."

"You don't understand – this big important…_thing_ is sitting in, and I am twenty minutes away and it starts in five!"

"Hermione, calm down," he urged her, "You could always find somewhere else to work – from what Harry told me, you sound qualified for pretty much anything."

"You talked to Harry?" she asked curiously.

"Not if I wasn't supposed to."

She laughed, making him grin, "No, it's fine. Harry's just been a huge big brother figure in the past, I'm surprised he's willingly talking to you."

"I'm just one of a kind," he grinned wider as she laughed again, "I'd love to talk to you some more, but you're going to drag me down in Wonderland and make _me_ late too."

"Sorry," she squeaked.

"Don't be," he told her.

"Oh, no, I wasn't really talking to you, I was talking to the kid on the bike I nearly knocked down. And I'm running, by the way."

It was his turn to laugh, "I'll talk to you later, I'm about to go and get my brain numbed."

"Alright, see you!" Another scream before the line cut off, making Bruce sigh and walk into the lecture hall, sitting down next to Fitzherbert in the back row and frowning as a young man strutted forward and cleared his throat.

"Today, class, we will be learning about dragons and sword fighting and all of that good stuff," he said in a ridiculously high voice, making several of the students laugh as Bruce blinked at him. The man grinned at them before continuing on with a straight face, "Dragons ate cattle for breakfast, commoners for lunch, and knights for supper."

Bruce glanced over at the other two scientists, who shrugged at him in return before a slamming door caught their attentions.

"Ha-ha, Mister Lewis," Hermione frowned at him as she walked towards him, crossing her arms over her chest, "I'll be speaking with you after class for attempting to embarrass me in front of our guests." She glanced up at them and blinked as Bruce grinned and waved at her, making her smile a little at him but shake her head to glare back at Mister Lewis, who was rocking back and forth on his heels and grinning at her, "To your seat."

"Yes ma'am," he grinned, bowing for her before dashing back to his seat in the front row.

She sighed, rolling her eyes and turned to a blackboard, starting to draw, "The most common thing known about the medieval days were its rather extreme stories. A sword stuck in a stone that chose the ruler of the kingdom, for example. A great and powerful wizard named Merlin. And so on and so forth and many cartoons later, we're left with stereotypes of that time."

"Professor," one girl raised her hand, making Hermione turn to nod at her, "Yesterday we were talking about Merlin himself."

"Yes, but since we have guests today, I've decided to broaden our topic," she answered, wiping the chalk dust off on her jeans, "We'll go back to Merlin tomorrow."

"I've got a question!" Mister Lewis raised his hand, making the girl next to him glare.

"Jack, sit down, she won't take any more of your acts today," she frowned.

"I'm already seeing her after class, what's the point?" he shrugged, hand still in the air as Hermione sighed.

"Yes, Mister Lewis?"

"What's with you and that guy?" he asked, pointing over to Bruce, who shrunk in his seat as eyes turned towards him.

Hermione stared at him for a moment before frowning, "What's with you and Melissa?"

"Damnit!" he sat down as the girl next to him laughed, "I hate knowing your family!"

Hermione sighed and swept her hair back, "Jack, no cursing in my classroom."

"I thought I was 'Mister Lewis' in your classroom?" he questioned.

"I know your mother!" she threatened.

He froze, eyes wide before he hung his head, muttering about her as she grinned triumphantly at the girl next to him, turning back to the chalkboard.

"Now, where were we?" Hermione looked up at the ceiling before nodding, "Ahh, right. Anyway, without any further interruptions – "

"I can't make any promises," Jack told her dully.

She continued on as if she hadn't heard him, "The Dark Ages is the concept of a period of intellectual darkness that supposedly occurred in Europe following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire."

"They took all their lamps!" Jack exclaimed.

"Jack Nathaniel Lewis, go sit in my office!" she snapped as he gaped at her.

"I am not a _child_, Aunt Hermione!"

"Well stop acting like one and _go_!"

"Told you," the girl next to Jack whispered as he took his belongings and strutted to her office, glancing back at her as she watched his progress. He flopped his things in a chair and shut the door, making her sigh and wince up at the scientists.

"I'm very sorry about him," she told them as students craned their necks to look up at them again.

"Continue on, it's fine," Fitzherbert waved her on as Bruce fiddled with his hands and stared at the tabletop.

* * *

"Excellent lecture, Professor Granger," Doctor Tomas said as he shook Hermione's hand, "You're a superb teacher."

"Thank you," she smiled, shooting a quick glance to her office door, "He's really not a bad kid, he just does things for a laugh and doesn't think about the consequences until it's crashing down on him."

"He called you 'aunt'…?" Fitzherbert prodded.

"His older sister is married – or, well, will be married to my best friend Ron, and I'm very close to his family, so all of the kids call me and Harry 'Aunt Hermione' and 'Uncle Harry,' when I'm not really related. Harry will be though, marrying Ginny in October."

"Well then," Tomas looked at Fitzherbert curiously, "That's, err…nice, I suppose."

"And how _do_ you two know each other?" Fitzherbert turned to Bruce, who winced with Hermione.

"Well, we're rather umm yeah," Bruce tugged a hand through his hair, looking at her curiously as she did the same to him. What were they, anyway? What would they call them?

"Umm…we're…" Hermione winced, "Umm…." A loud crash made her gasp and whirl around to glare at her office door, where light swearing was heard, "I'm terribly sorry, but I've got to go have a word with him."

"Right, yes, of course. It was lovely meeting you, Miss Granger," Fitsherbert grinned as he shook her hand, "Come along, Doctor Banner, I want to have a word with you as well."

_Oh my God, I'm in time out_ was the first thought that ran through Bruce's mind, but he nodded and shot a quick glance to Hermione, who shrugged at him as she made her way to her office door.

She shut it, biting her lip before glaring at Jack, "Jack…."

"I'm fixing it!" he exclaimed, pointing at the shards of her broken lamp with a wand and waving it, "Reparo. See?" He patted the fixed lamp, grinning at her, "No harm done!"

"That's not what I meant," she frowned, "Jack, you're a good kid, but you come into my class and act like a clown. I'm worried – what's going on?"

He stood, gripping his wand and looking at her blankly before wincing, the picture of an embarrassed child, "I'm sorry, Hermione, honestly, I just…Jane and Mother Molly are all about the wedding right now, and Lissie's hardly giving me any notice, and I just…I don't want to act like a student around you – you're my aunt, I want to act like you are. My brain just doesn't figure out it's inappropriate until it's too late."

"Jack, you can hang out with me any time," she smiled as he blinked.

"Ahh, no I can't," he smirked, slipping into a chair, "Just whenever you aren't hanging out with that Science Guy."

She blushed and dropped into the chair behind her desk, "I didn't even know he was one. A scientist, I mean."

"Seriously?" Jack blinked, "What do you talk about on your dates?"

"Anything other than work," she shrugged, "He knew I taught others, I knew he worked with 'boring old guys.' We never really questioned it."

Jack snorted, shaking his head at her, "He doesn't know that you're a - ?"

"No," she shook her head.

"Will he ever?" he asked, leaning forward in his seat, looking at her curiously.

She bit her lip, looking back at the door, "I don't know…maybe."

Jack sat back and grinned, "Cool. He seems like an alright bloke."

"Ginny set me up with him."

"Ba-haha!" Jack's eyebrows shot up as he grinned, "That's fun!"

"After I knocked him over onto the pavement," she winced.

"Ohh, Aunty Minnie, I love you," he beamed, "You're as awkward as me!"

"And yet Melissa is still attracted to you, so hopefully there's a little bit of hope for me as well," she rolled her eyes, grinning at him as he laughed.

* * *

"You're a scientist?"

"You're a professor?"

"You said my lecture was boring!"

"That was before I sat in on your lecture! It was actually kind of interesting. Never knew Merlin had an enemy named Morgana le Fey."

"Uh-huh," she looked at him disbelievingly as they walked down the street at night, although she was grinning a little at him as he grinned back. "I can completely believe _that_."

"Hey, you never told me your last name," he shrugged, "Partially your fault."

"You never told me you were _Doctor_ Banner either," she smirked, "Also partially your fault."

He laughed, running a hand through his hair, "Yes, alright, we're both to blame for it, I guess."

"Hah," she smirked as he playfully glared at her, "You're in trouble too!"

He stayed silent as he walked along with her, watching as she grinned at him.

"Do you ever admit you're at fault too to anyone, or am I just special?" she asked as they came to a stop in front of her building, rocking on her heels.

He had dropped the smile and was looking at her curiously, making her plant her feet and furrow her eyebrows.

"Bruce?"

He smirked as he leaned in and dipped his head down to hers, making her blush as he grinned and kissed her lightly on the lips.

"No, you're just one of a kind," he said before kissing her once more, pulling away and straightening himself out as Hermione bit her lip, "See you tomorrow?"

"D-definitely," she winced a little as she stammered, making him grin and peck her cheek.

"Great. Sweet dreams, Hermione," he said as he stepped back, smiling at her.

"You too," she smiled back, going up the steps before turning the door knob and slipping inside. She slid down the door, grinning madly to herself before looking up at a smirking Harry as he stood on the staircase leading to her bedroom. She grinned at him, arms perched on her knees, "I really really like him, Harry."

"Then I'm really really glad," he smiled back.

* * *

**One – can I just say "aww" with the rest of you over that last half? I like that one.**

**Two – A little bit of a back story on Jack:**

**His mother was killed in the Battle of Hogwarts when he was nine, his older sister Jane fighting her way through the Auror's department and striking up a friendship with Ron, which soon became a romantically inclined relationship. Jack's 'mother' that Hermione talked about in here is really Molly, who everybody considers as Jack's mother, as Jane can take care of herself, but still needs help when it comes down to her little brother. Any other questions about him I'll answer.**

**Bye!**


	3. It Was a Small One!

"Alright, Dominique, this is the last time I'm doing this," Ron told the little girl sternly, making her look up from sucking her thumb to stare blankly at her uncle. He took a deep breath before singing, "You're a little funny when you walk, walk, walk, but I'm a little bunny so I hop, hop, hop!"

There were gasps heard behind him, making him whirl around to see Harry and Hermione beaming at him.

"What was that, Ron?" Harry asked as Hermione began to laugh, doubling over as he gaped at his two best friends.

"I love that song, Ron," Jack beamed as he stepped around and picked up the little girl, "C'mon, Domi, let's go see your grandmum."

"Granna Molly!" she cheered.

"Yeah!" he said brightly, bouncing her along as Harry and Hermione laughed their way over to him, hanging off of his shoulders as he glared at the two.

"MUM!" Ron yelped, "HERMIONE'S DATING SOMEONE AND HARRY'S RECENTLY GOTTEN OVER A BROKEN LEG!"

"No!" they yelled, looking horrified at him as he smirked.

"Do _not_ make fun of the Bunny Song," he sniffed before walking away as Molly came rushing out of the house, Ginny, Fleur and Audrey on her heels with huge grins on their faces.

"Hermione, I'm going to talk to you later, but Harry James Potter!" Molly swiveled on the Boy Who Lived, glaring at him as he blanched as Ginny began to bounce in front of Hermione, Fleur and Audrey beaming at her.

"You're _dating_ him?" she asked, waiting for the nod before she screamed and flung her arms around her neck, squishing her face against her own.

"What's he like?" Audrey questioned.

"What iz his name?" Fleur asked, a little of her accent popping through.

"Oh, how did you meet?"

"Are you in love?"

"Tell us about him!"

Hermione whimpered, pulling away from Ginny and hiding behind Harry as Molly fretted over him.

"Harry, help me," she begged, holding on to him by his neck, tugging him down a little, "I want to go home."

"You're dating Bruce!" Ginny cheered as George stepped outside and looked at them curiously, "Oh I liked Bruce!"

"Hey!" George yelled, "Domi just said her first word!"

"Oh my Merlin, I missed it!" Fleur bounded back into the house, Audrey and Ginny screaming along behind her as Molly gaped and followed them in.

"Thank you, George," Hermione sighed, letting go of Harry and running her hands through her hair.

"Don't worry about it, just pay me back with ice cream and a little chit-chat," he grinned, "You're not too busy right now, right?"

"Anything to get away from the piranha," she whispered, making him laugh as she towed him away.

* * *

"So," George hummed as he propped his feet up on the extra chair, looking pointedly at her, "Tell me about him."

"Uhm…" she fiddled with her hair, using a little to hide her face as somebody peered at her curiously from inside Flortescue's, "His name is Bruce Banner. He's a scientist. He's from America. Very nice, great sense of humor…."

"You like him?"

She sighed, biting her lip as she stabbed at her ice cream with her spoon, "A whole lot."

"Well that's good," George smiled, "He sounds like a great guy for you, I'm glad you're happy." He frowned then, "But you seem a little on the 'fense. Care to share, Granger?"

"He's Muggle," she buried her face in her hands, "He's so incredibly Muggle and I'm so incredibly _not!_ George, I really like him, he's totally into science, _how_ can I tell him I'm a witch when I need to? I can't stand losing him, and we've only been dating for a week!"

"Aww," was his first response before he noticed her hopeful look, "Alright, okay, umm…if he really likes you, he'll accept it! If he doesn't, he's an arse who doesn't deserve your time. But just enjoy everything as it comes for right now, and stop worrying, because you deserve good events to come your way after all you've been through. I hereby decree that everything for you should be lollipops and rainbows from now on." He slapped the table, making her grin at him.

"Thank you, George," she smiled.

"It's alright," he stood, taking his ice cream with him, "Now come on, people are looking at us funny. Is my hair weird?"

She laughed and stood as well, following him along, "No, your hair's lovely."

"Thank you," he said, flipping what hair was long enough over his shoulder.

* * *

"You're never allowed in my flat again," she frowned at him, arms wrapped around her knees as the firemen checked out her building, making George shrug and wince at her.

"It was only a small fire," he grinned.

"You blew up my kitchen!" she shrieked, hands balling into fists.

"You have a small kitchen!" he yelled back, making her groan at him until she saw somebody jogging towards her, making her stand up and move towards him.

"Bruce, I'm so – "

"Hold me!" George cried, flinging himself into Bruce's arms, making him blink down at him as Hermione sighed and tugged George away.

"I'm sorry about him, he's Ginny and Ron's older brother," she bit her lip, wincing up at him, "And I'm sorry for calling you, I just…couldn't think of anybody else."

"Don't be sorry," he said, pulling her into him and running a hand through her hair, "What happened?"

"I let George into my building, that's what happened," she said darkly, "Bruce, he blew up my kitchen!"

"It was a small fire!" he noted.

"My _kitchen,_ George!"

"We've been through this!"

She whimpered and laid her head on Bruce's chest as he looked over her building, "I can't go in for a few days, but it'll be fine. I just wanted to go _home_."

"George Weasley, I'm telling mum!" Ginny yelled, making George scream and dash behind a fire hydrant, Harry sighing and shaking his head at him.

"Hermione, are you alright?" he asked, making her nod in Bruce's grasp.

"Umm…where's your cat?" Ginny asked, scratching the side of her nose.

Hermione and George both popped up with horrified gasps, hands flying to their hair.

"My kitty!" she cried.

"I killed a cat!" George cried, sobbing into a fireman's shoulder, who only stood there and patted him on the back with a serious expression.

"Is this it?" another fireman asked, holding out a little ball of fluff to Hermione. She beamed and took the fluff ball, cradling it to her chest as she leaned into Bruce's.

"Oh my god, I thought I lost you forever for a moment," Hermione murmured as it cuddled against her, "George is never getting anywhere near you ever again."

"Is it okay?" George sniffed.

"The cat is fine, sir," the fireman he'd cried on told him.

"Hermione, we've got room at Grimmauld place," Harry told her.

She sighed, pouting at her building before nodding, "Alright. Only for a few days."

"We'll help you fix it up, too, and we'll keep George under lock and key at Mum's so he won't destroy anything else," Ginny patted her on the head, "I'm going to go see the damage and yell at George, alright? C'mon, help me, Harry."

"No, no, Ginny, don't – ow," he limped as he followed his sister as she gripped his ear, "Ginny, that's my good ear!"

"It's your _only_ ear," Harry noted as he trotted along behind them.

"That's why it's so good!"

"I'm sorry," Hermione said once more to Bruce, looking up at him as he smiled down at her.

He kissed her on the nose, hugging her tighter to him, "Don't worry about it. _Are_ you alright though?"

"I'm fine – going to kill George though," she huffed, reaching up to peck him on the lips, "Thank you, you're brilliant."

"Thanks, and stop that," he smiled down at her, "Stop it with the 'sorry's and the 'thank you's. They are unnecessary."

"Sorry," she smiled back as he grinned and kissed her head.

* * *

**We'll just leave that off there.**

**Let's see….questions to be answered here.**

**To _LeeArt:_ I was thinking somewhere around 23-25ish, as Bruce looks somewhere around 30 in the Avengers. Hermione teaches at some unknown Muggle university, although a few witches and wizards are in her classes. She could teach at Hogwarts after her Muggle classes if you think that'd be something she'd do. I've thought about that, actually, but it didn't follow in my "script." Umm…Ruffalo, because I've either haven't seen Ed Norton's or I don't remember it. And you just told me to ignore it when I already answered it. Whoopsie-daisy!**

**By the way – I own the Bunny Song. Made it up completely at random yesterday and decided to let it have its moment in here.**


	4. Take All the Time You Need

_"And suppose I never ever met you/Suppose we never fell in love/Suppose I never ever let you/Kiss me so sweet and so soft…" – Fidelity, by Regina Spektor_

* * *

"Favorite band?"

"Oh Jesus, umm…there's too many. Do I have to pick just one?"

"Yes," she grinned at him across from her couch, "Pick one you could spend the rest of your life listening to their songs."

"Ahh," Bruce winced, leaning against the back of the couch as his hand picked through his hair, "Queen, I guess."

"Brilliant," she smiled as he grinned back at her.

"What about you?"

"Oh…can I pick Queen too?" She pouted when he shook his head, sighing as she thought, "Ohh…Either Sara Bareilles or Regina Spektor."

"That's two," he pointed out with a smirk.

"Be glad it's been narrowed down," she nudged his knee with her foot, "Favorite movie?"

"Bahh," he frowned, thinking, "Either…Indiana Jones or…Interview With a Vampire."

"Which Indy movie?"

"Pfft…all of them?" he grinned as she laughed, "And you?"

"Ahh…the Breakfast Club, either that or the Princess Bride."

"Hmm," he hummed, shifting to get comfortable again, "Favorite book?"

"Oh god, you said it," she moaned as she covered her face with her hands, sliding further into the couch as he laughed, "Now I have to _choose_."

"Take your time," he grinned as she slid a few fingers away and glared at him.

"Well, then I'm going to have to be comfortable, considering that'll take all night," she told him before crawling over next to him and leaning her head against his shoulder, her legs tucked up underneath her as his arm crept around her shoulders and he began to play with her hair.

"_Please_ take your time," he murmured against her forehead, smiling when he heard her laugh.

* * *

**Because it's my story and I can write fluff if I want to.**

**So there.**


	5. Slang and Other Terms

"Do you need help?" he asked in amusement, watching as she reached for a book on a shelf, already perched on a chair with a pen in her mouth.

"Nah," she muffled through the pen, although she was gripping onto the side of the shelf as she stretched, wishing he hadn't been so Muggle or else she would've just used her wand like she always did. "Got it."

"Looks like it," he chuckled, grabbing her wrist and pulling her away, helping her down and picking the pen out of her mouth to give her a quick kiss on the lips, "Please don't do that anymore."

She stuck her tongue out at him before he replaced the pen and got on top of the chair, picking the book out easily and stepping down as he handed it to her, smiling as she glared at him.

"You're welcome," he smiled, setting the chair back in her kitchen before he followed her to the couch, where she was grading essays.

"Thank you, Bruce," she muttered as he sat down, trying not to smile as he grinned back at her. She pulled her hair back, tying it up before sitting next to him as he read the book she'd handed him, grabbing the first essay and reading through it. She was slowly making her way through the stack, just as he was slowly going through the book before he interrupted her.

"Hey," he said, pulling her away from correcting someone's grammar, "Quick question."

"Fire away," she said, smiling slightly.

"What are we?" he asked, making her blink, "Are we dating?"

"Do you want to date?" she asked after a pause, her eyes trained on the wrong use of 'their.'

He was folding the corner of the page he was on, which she'd already folded numerous times before, watching it instead of her, "I'd like to."

She smiled, pulling her legs up and resting the paper on her knees, "I would too."

He smiled too, "Then I guess we are dating."

"I guess so."

* * *

"What's the name of this place again?" Bruce asked, his arm perched around her shoulders as she led them down the sidewalk.

"McGregor's, although one of my friends from school runs it, and his name isn't McGregor," she shrugged, smiling up at him, "I told his girlfriend I'd stop by more often, and he's a good cook, so I thought I'd take you too. Also, I hate the waitress there because she's called me out on being single numerous times before, and I love proving people wrong."

Bruce laughed, leaning down to peck her head, "Well then, I'm glad to help."

She laughed back, grinning before freezing and making them come to a stop, eyes wide before she tried to slowly tug him away until a cry stopped them.

"Hermione!" George grinned before beaming, "And Bruce!"

"Oh no," Harry gaped as George began to smirk at her and she began to glare, "No, George, don't you dare – "

"Mum, look, it's Hermione and her boyfriend!" George exclaimed loudly to the other Weasleys, who turned and beamed at her as she glared at the one-eared man.

"I'm so sorry," Harry winced as he walked up to them, Charlie and Bill smirking back to Hermione, "But you'd have to prepare for it anyway."

"You could've _warned_ me," Hermione glared at him, "Hand signals, shaking your head, _something_!"

"But I – "

"You looked right at me!"

Harry opened his mouth to argue with her more before a redhead picked her up and slung her over his shoulder, making her sigh and punch him once in the small of his back.

"Bruce, this is Charlie, Charlie this is my boyfriend, Bruce," Hermione said dully as Bill stepped up to his brother and they looked at Bruce carefully.

"Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't," Fleur said, passing her husband and shoving their daughter into his arms before turning to Bruce, "Hallo, I'm Fleur, Bill's wife."

"Hello," Bruce smiled, shaking her hand, "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," she beamed, "How long have you been going out with her?"

"Ahh – a few weeks," he hummed as Victoire was passed to Harry.

"So – what are you intending on doing with Hermione?" Bill asked, making Hermione gasp at him and glare at him.

"I am intending to date her," Bruce shrugged, hands in his pockets, "After that, who knows?"

"If you hurt our baby sister, we'll – OW, HERMIONE!" Charlie yelped, nearly dropping her.

"Charlie Weasley, I can take care of myself!" she yelled at him, Bruce and Harry hiding their grins poorly as Victoire giggled at her uncle.

"Bruce! Bruce! Bruce!" George, Ginny and Ron chanted, bouncing up and down in front of him as they grinned and he blinked.

A blonde woman winced and dragged Ron away, patting his arm and smiling apologetically at Bruce as Jack beamed and waved, grabbing George's collar and nearly yanking him to the ground, but Harry handed Ginny Victoire and she immediately stopped.

"That was Jane, Jack's sister and Ron's fiancé," Harry explained as Charlie finally set Hermione down, "We're all actually pretty close, as you can see. One great big weird family."

"Oy, our family is _brilliant_, than you," Ginny teased. "Aren't we, Tory, darling?"

"Yeah!" Victoire agreed, hugging her aunt around the neck, "Brill!"

"Be glad Percy and Audrey are distracting Arthur and Molly, or else you would be bombarded with much more questions than you already have been," Harry grinned, "I should suggest grabbing Hermione and running away quickly."

"Good idea," Bruce muttered back to him, "Thanks."

"I am not done yelling at you," Hermione glared as Bruce chuckled and began to drag her away.

"I love you too, Hermione," Harry snorted, rolling his eyes as they walked away before they quickly sprinted down a shortcut.

She groaned and ran her hands through her hair, grinning at him sheepishly, "That's usually what scares people off. Overprotective really close friends."

He grinned back, "At least I know they like me, to some extent."

She laughed as they started walking again, "Bill and Charlie will warm up to you, don't worry. It actually took them a while to warm up to me, and now look at the barmy loons."

"Ahh – barmy?" he repeated, looking at her curiously.

She blinked before grinning, "It means crazy. British slang. Cultural differences and everything."

He chuckled, nodding at her, "Yeah, I've heard a few dozen words that I don't understand here."

"Like what?" she asked.

He thought about it for a moment as they reached another sidewalk, "What's a jumper?"

"Sweater," she answered.

"A trainer?"

"I think you call them sneakers," she smiled.

He scratched his head, thinking of more as she bent down to tie her shoe, "'Ball and chain' sounds like it'd mean the same thing in America."

"Girlfriend or wife, although I suppose it could be used by women to describe their significant others as well," she hummed as she stood.

"Yeah, same thing – what's 'shagging'?"

She giggled, grinning at him as he looked at her curiously, "Umm…where did you hear that one?"

"I was walking outside of a bar and some guy was talking about a girl – he was very drunk though, so I'm not sure it was a real word or not," he shrugged.

"It is," she held back another laugh and tried not to blush, "But it's rather awkward to explain it."

He only looked at her curiously before smirking, "I could just ask one of your friends, you know."

She tried to wince and laugh at the same time, feeling the blush on her face, "That'd be even more awkward, I think. Fine, well, umm…shagging is sex."

He blinked at her as she bit her lip and tried not to laugh again, because this was actually a rather awkward topic for both of them. All he said was "uhhh" before they decided to pretend it hadn't happened and walk on.

* * *

"Oy! Get out of here! You're not welcome!" a voice called from the bar as Hermione rolled her eyes and smiled at Bruce, dragging him over to the voice.

"And _you're_ going to stop me?" she laughed as they sat down, the man behind it grinning brightly at her, "Shay, I taught you everything you know!"

"Maybe I picked up new tricks," he pouted at her.

"He didn't," an airy voice said, the blonde woman smiling at him softly, "And he's actually rather afraid of you."

"Luna!" Hermione smiled and stood, hugging the woman, "Bruce, these are my friends, Luna Lovegood and Seamus Finnegan. This is my boyfriend, Bruce Branner."

"Whoa," Seamus took a step back, eyebrows raised before he leaned in closer and narrowed his eyes at Bruce, "Are you real?"

"Seamus!" Hermione barked as he chuckled.

"I wouldn't put it past you to figure out how to clone some not-so-famous dead poet or author or something," he wagged a finger at her.

"Hermione is very pretty," Luna told Seamus, "She only didn't want to date because they either weren't smart enough for her standards or were easily scared off by the Weasleys."

"Have you met them yet?" Seamus asked.

"Just did, actually," Bruce said, making Seamus blink at him before grinning at Hermione.

"Didn't know you went for the foreign blokes, Mione!"

"Shay, don't call me that!" she huffed as he laughed.

"Hermione, I need to talk to you," Luna said, tugging on her elbow.

"Alright," she nodded, looking at her curiously before turning back to Bruce, "Don't believe anything he says."

Seamus wrinkled his nose at her as he laughed and nodded, "You have no faith in me."

"Nope," she grinned back before pecking Bruce on the cheek and allowed herself to be dragged away by Luna.

"So – this place is pretty busy," Bruce said, looking around the restaurant.

"It's mostly friends or friends of friends," Seamus shrugged, "I don't think anybody comes here because they actually like the food."

"Why not? I'm sure it's good."

"Here, try this," he said, handing him a bowl of something green.

"Guacamole?" Bruce asked as he grabbed a french fry and poked at it.

"It's actually ranch," he grinned as Bruce dropped the fry and pushed the bowl away. "See, we've got this waitress who _thinks_ she knows how to cook, and Luna and I haven't got the heart to fire her – _yet _– but Dean is ready to strangle her and I think Hermione resists the urge to do so every time she sees her."

"The one she said made fun of her for being single?"

"Oh, she's told you about her," he smiled, "Yes, that one. Have you seen Hermione's 'you're an idiot and I want to rid the world of all the misery you cause' face?"

Bruce laughed, "No."

"Wait until Christy comes around, you'll see it," he glanced over at Luna and Hermione, the latter of the two was wincing and hitting her head against the wall, "I'm actually surprised she's here on her night willingly."

"She said something about proving people wrong," Bruce grinned, making Seamus nod and smile before freezing and hiding under the counter a little. "What's wrong?"

"Christy is coming, and she hasn't seen Hermione yet, and she's making a beeline towards you," he answered in a rush, "When she starts hitting on you – and trust me, she will – I don't want my facial expressions to portray how much I hate her face."

"Wait, what?" Bruce asked as Seamus ducked down and the woman stepped up to him.

She was tall, with blonde hair tightly pulled back, her blouse a few sizes too small and quite a few buttons undone. She grinned at him and leaned towards him, making him lean away and look at her warily.

"Hello there, Sweetheart," she said as he grimaced and tried to gain Hermione's attention, leaning against the bar and debating on whether or not to throw a fry at her when Christy leaned against it too, blocking his view, "Anything I can get for you?"

"Do waitresses usually tend to bars here?" he asked, making her blink before smiling again.

"Oh, you're from America!" she smirked, "I bet you must be really well traveled. Do you know any languages you could teach me over a few drinks?"

He stared at her for a moment before grinning, leaning his head against his hand, "I can actually answer that in seven languages."

"Really?" she practically purred.

"No, no, no, no, no, no and hell no," he beamed as she glared at him. "That last one was an American term, not really a language but it gets the point across."

"Oh come on, Love, don't be such a drag," she whined and pouted.

"My girlfriend doesn't think I'm a drag."

"Your girlfriend must be a bore if she isn't with you."

Bruce wrinkled his nose and leaned away from her once more, "Okay, one – that is _seriously_ tacky, trying to hit on me even after I say I've got a girlfriend. Two – she is. And now I've seen the face, Seamus."

Christy whirled around and paled at Hermione, who was glaring at her and being held back by Luna, although a dark skinned man was beaming and practically bouncing up and down.

"Hermione, I _love_ your boyfriend!" he grinned, making her snort and laugh at him, leaning against Luna now as the blonde laughed as well.

Christy whirled back to Bruce and gaped, "You're dating _Hermione Granger?_"

"Yup, he is and – oh, by the way, before I forget – you're fired," Seamus said, smiling as she gaped further at him, "I've told you over and over again – _don't flirt with the customers_. Plus, you can't cook, and you don't follow the dress code, and I just really don't like you."

"But – " she began before the other man, Dean, shoved a bag into her arms and began to lead her towards the door.

"That's all of your stuff, I've had it packed for ages," Dean grinned, "And your last paycheck and everything is in there, and please don't ever come here again, okay, buh-bye now!" He shut the door behind her and sighed in content, smiling as he walked over to the bar and patted Bruce on the shoulder. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he smiled back before Hermione stepped up and pecked him on the lips, smiling at him.

"Oh, you're brilliant," she laughed before pecking him once more on the cheek. He just smiled and shrugged at her.

* * *

**…I don't really know what to say here besides sorry for taking so long to update. I've had vacation and whatnot, and school starts up on the 20th – ugggh. Whatever though. Please review if you've got the time. Oh, and I've also got a poll on what to draw on my bio. I dunno if Bruce and Hermione were one of the options though...I'll go add them if they aren't. (And a few of the other Avengers...)**


	6. Goodnight

**Okay, so our dear pairing won that little contest, but for some reason whatever artistic power I had stored up when I created the poll fled when my hand grabbed a pencil. So I drew chibis. They're probably terrible chibis, but I'll link it at the end of this chapter.**

* * *

"Don't drink too much – don't wanna get tipsy," George grinned as Hermione glanced at him over her glass before smiling.

"Says he who is on his third glass while I am still on my one," she countered as he chuckled and leaned against the table they were hovering by.

The Ministry had decided that they should have a formal party for the Minister's birthday, which meant that Hermione, Harry and all the Weasleys had to be there for Percy's birthday, although they had the party for family and friends the day before.

George took a sip from his glass before reaching forward and sipping at Hermione's, making her frown at him but say nothing and wait for him to hand her drink back. "So what'd you tell Bruce?"

"Told him I had a boring formal function to go to tonight," she sighed as she got her glass back, "I don't think I lied."

"No you did not," he sighed back, smiling at Ginny once she slipped her way over to them. "What's up, little sis?"

"Ugh, my feet are killing me," Ginny complained, leaning onto the table to take off some of the pressure from her feet, "How are you even standing, Hermione? I don't think I've seen you sit down since breakfast."

"Booze," Hermione smirked and raised her glass, making the redheads grin at her. "Numbs the pain."

"What happened to '_I'm on my first glass_,' Hermione?" George teased.

"Shut it, I don't drink often, so there," she stuck her tongue out at him.

"So when're you going to tell Bruce that you're a witch?" Ginny questioned once she grabbed at a drink from a passing waiter, making Hermione hit her face onto the table.

"Ugh," she groaned as she picked her head up, "I don't know. Can it just be never?"

"Hermione," Ginny chided, "You have to tell him sometime. I think you guys could get really serious."

"It's just – we're fine, he doesn't have to know, can't we just be like this?" she pouted.

"Hermione," George frowned at her as well, "If he's going to love you, he's got to love the real you, magic and all."

"Well said, brother," Ginny said, offering her palm.

"Thank you, sister," George said, smacking her hand with his.

"I dunno about 'love,'" she muttered as she glared at them over her glass.

* * *

"Whoa, look at you," Bruce blinked at her as he leaned against his door, making her smile at him. Her dress was dark red and strapless, the hem in a handkerchief style, with her hair done up and heels on her feet. "You look…wow."

"Thank you," she grinned, playing with the dress a little as she stood there, "Well, goodnight!"

"Hey, hey, whoa, where's the fire?" he asked as he caught her wrist, dragging her into his hotel room.

"I just stopped by to show you the dress," she shrugged as he led her to the couch. She groaned and leaned against him, "Because I knew that if I sat down I'd fall asleep."

"It's fine, I don't mind, remember?" he grinned and pulled her into him, "How was the boring thing?"

"Ugh, boring," she muttered as he began to pick bobby pins out of her hair, "They didn't give us chairs so we stood there all four numbing hours of it. The good news is Teddy decided to help me and a few others out. He came up to me and told me to just leave covering part of my dress, and he'd cover for me by saying he got grape juice on it and I had to go clean it. I think it's still going on, but I don't care."

Bruce laughed and grinned at her as she leaned her head on his shoulder as he lazily drew designs onto her shoulder.

"Bruce," she groaned, "You're making me fall asleep."

"I know," he grinned back, setting the pins on the table before he stood and picked her up, "You're tired, so goodnight."

"No, no, no, Bruce!" she tried to complain, but ended up laughing and wrapping her arms around his neck, "You're so…."

He sat her on the edge of the bed and grinned at her before kissing her, "I know. Don't know how you put up with me." He stood and turned to go back to the living room when she grabbed his wrist and yanked him into the mattress, grinning triumphantly at him as he blinked at her.

"Yeah, don't know how you put up with me either," she grinned as he laughed, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her into him as she kicked off her shoes. He pulled the sheets up over them as she attempted to reach for the light, except he reached over and got it first, making her frown at him.

"Goodnight," he muffled as he pecked her head, smiling when she huffed at him.

"Goodnight," she echoed as she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

**This was cute and halfway decent, so the other part of this will be next chapter.**

**And finally the link – if you'll go to my bio, there's a link – well okay several links – but one of them says something about fanart if I'm remembering correctly (pfft, I don't read my own bio, I don't remember). It'll take you to this weird place with a playlist to the right, a sign-type thing that says "Ava Dakedavra" like I freaking own a fast food chain, and then a couple of pictures and such under my sign. One of them will be the picture I'm talking about. Also, if you have a Tumblr, it's okay to follow me. And if you follow me/already are following me, it's okay to talk to me, anon or not. If you don't even have a Tumblr, go to my page, find my ask box, and write something to me, because I get bored there and only get somewhat rude anons that ask if I've only got two followers. Pfft, Tumblr's weird. But my playlist is pretty awesome anyway, so you should at least listen to that while you're surfing the web if you want. It's your choice.**

**Anyway – back on topic!**

**Love,**

**Ava**


	7. Minty Goodness

**Have you ever wanted to go get a glass of water but everyone's asleep so you just slowly dehydrate?**

* * *

"So you're just going to pile up in my bed while I go out and get you a toothbrush?" Bruce called through the bathroom door as he tugged on a new shirt.

"It's either that or I leave, go home, brush my teeth and change, and then meet you later," she muffled from the pillow as he slid the door open and smirked at her. He'd woken up after her and found that she wouldn't open her mouth, humming instead of talking. After he asked, she covered her mouth and said that because her parents were dentists, she was extremely self-conscience of her breath in the morning. He'd teased her and kissed her on the cheek before promising to go and get her one.

"Y'know, I think you should love me forever for carrying weird habits from my parents as well," he grinned, swooping down and swinging the packaged toothbrush in front of her face.

She sat up and reached for it, although he held it away from her and grinned at her. She pouted back at him as he grinned wider at her crazy hair flying everywhere.

"Bruce," she whined, reaching for it again as he tried not to laugh. He reached forward and kissed her, making her wince and cover her mouth when he pulled away.

"Hermione," he frowned at her before pecking her cheek. "If people in movies can _both_ have morning breath and make out, I don't see why I can't kiss you."

"Movies are fictional," she muffled through her hands, "You never hear them talking about their breath in the morning because they don't _have_ any."

He rolled his eyes and handed her the toothbrush, letting her rip it open and dash into the bathroom, laughing and leaning against the doorway.

"Were your parents that strict on teeth?" he questioned.

"I iddn't ea' 'anny 'nill I 'ent 'ooh 'ool," she answered through the toothpaste, making him snort and laugh at her.

"Honey, I didn't understand any of that," he laughed.

She spit out the toothpaste and rolled her eyes, grinning at him, "I didn't eat candy until I went to school."

"Umm…so five?"

She winced, trying to hide her fear in her eyes as she turned back to him, "Ahh, no, I went to a boarding school when I was eleven. It wasn't very well-known, but we liked it."

"Oh, what was it called?"

"Ahh – Hogwarts." _School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,_ her brain betrayed.

"An unfortunate name," he grinned at her as she gave a laugh and went back to brushing her teeth. She spit out the toothpaste and rinsed the brush.

"Oh, you have no idea," she sighed.

* * *

"You told him about Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"I told him I went to a boarding school when I was eleven and that it was called Hogwarts," she sighed and rubbed her eyes as they sat at her kitchen table.

"Hermione, just tell him."

"It's easier said than done, Harry!" she whimpered, "Have you _ever_ dated somebody Muggle? No, you haven't, you've dated witches! Nobody knows what I'm going through – _I_ don't even know what I'm going through!"

"Hermione, you just have to keep calm and let things go naturally," he soothed, patting her hand.

She glared at him, "You _suck_ at advice."

He sighed, rolling his eyes at her, "I know. Dunno why you guys ask for it."

"I don't either."

* * *

**Because movies really need to address the issue of morning breath.**

**Love,**

**Ava**


	8. Can't We Just Get Bad Reception?

**Tip when cleaning your car: Check to make sure that you don't bring in grass after you've vacuumed. **

* * *

"I haven't exactly told you everything," Hermione said, making him look away from a couple of kids playing across the road and look over to her. "There are reasons that my parents aren't here anymore. There are reasons why I haven't told you everything about my past, specifically about my school."

"One quick question," he asked, "You weren't part of some British Mob for kids, were you?"

"What?" she blinked, managing a grin, "No."

"Oh, good, because you were talking about your parents not being around and your past and school and I got worried," he grinned before looking at her curiously now. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

"I'm saying that I…" she took in a deep breath to continue when her phone cut her off, making her groan to the sky. "Are you _kidding me_?" She checked the screen and frowned, "I shouldn't."

"It might be important," Bruce shrugged.

She sighed and flicked it open, "Harry, what do you want, I'm b – Ginny?" She blinked at Bruce, "Ginny, what's wrong? Ginny – Honey, I can't understand you when you talk so fast. Calm down or hand the phone to someone who can explain. Ron? Ron, I can't understand you either. Can somebody _please_ calm down long enough to tell me what's going on? Teddy! Teddy, you're an angel, what's going on?" She gaped at Bruce, "Why are you at the hospital? I-is he alright? Oh my Mer – Sweetie, do you need me down there? Who all is there? You, Ginny, Ron, Tori and Domi? Alright, watch Tori and Domi and make sure Ginny and Ron are going to be okay. I'll try to be down there in a few minutes. I love you too, Sweetheart." She shut the phone and looked worriedly at Bruce.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Harry's broken something, he's at a Muggle hospital," she froze and stared at Bruce with her eyes wide.

He blinked at her, "Is that more slang?"

"M-more of an inside thing," she covered her mouth, afraid of what else might spill out when she wasn't ready. "I'm sorry, I promise I'll tell you everything soon, but Ginny and Ron are freaking out and the kids are scared."

"Do you want me to come?"

She bit her lip, "I don't know….Teddy and the girls don't need to see whatever Harry's done to himself, do you think you could watch them while I go with Ginny and Ron?"

"Yeah, sure, anything."

She pecked him on the lips, dragging him down the sidewalk by his wrist, "Thank you."

* * *

"They're over there," the little boy said as Hermione and Bruce walked into the Emergency Room, "They're still crying. Domi started crying because of them, and Tori's trying not to." He tilted his head at Bruce before looking over at Hermione, "Is Uncle Harry going to be okay?"

"I don't know the full extent of what he's done, but I'm sure he'll be fine," Hermione answered before swooping down and pecking Teddy on the cheek, hugging him close to whisper in his ear. "Sweetheart, Bruce is Muggle. No hair tricks?"

He pulled back and smiled, telling her that he understood before leading them to where Ginny and Ron were sitting in a secluded corner of the room, crying.

"Hermione!" Ginny leapt up and hugged her, making her stumble a bit and gag. "Thank you."

"Of course I'd come, Ginny," she pulled back and glanced at Ron, seeing that he was curling around Dominique and rocking back and forth as the little girl looked at her dully, tired of the Rocking Game. "Are you two alright? What happened?"

"We'll tell you later," Ginny said, glancing to where Tori was looking curiously up at Bruce. "The nurse said we could go in, but not the kids."

"That's why I'm here," Bruce shrugged.

Domi grunted and wiggled away from Ron, pouting and patting her hair as she toddled over to her sister. Tori smoothed it back and pecked her on top of the head.

"Uncle Harry will be alright, Domi," she promised, "Uncle Bruce is going to watch us while Aunty Ginny and Aunty Minnie go in with Uncle Ron to make sure he gets better."

"Uncle Bruce?" Hermione and Bruce echoed.

"Yeah, we call you Aunty Minnie, shouldn't we call him Uncle Bruce?" Teddy questioned.

"Sweetheart, you can only call him that if they get married," Ginny tried before continuing, "Or if they're about to get married."

"They're not _married?_" Tori and Teddy gaped.

"We'll explain that later," Hermione shook her head, picking Ron up by his arm to push him through the doors as Ginny smiled at Bruce gratefully and followed them.

"Mister, why aren't you married to my Aunty Minnie?" Teddy demanded with a frown, "Don't you blubber her?"

"Blubber?" Bruce blinked at him before grinning, "You mean, don't I love her?"

"What'd I say?" he blinked back.

"You asked 'don't I blubber her,'" he chuckled as he sat in one of the chairs, Victoire helping her sister into one and sitting in between her and Bruce.

"Same thing," Teddy insisted, "Don't you?"

"Blubber her? No. Love her?" he thought about it before smiling and nodding, "Yes. I love her."

"Then marry her!" he huffed.

Tori patted Bruce's arm to get him to lean down so she could whisper to him, "Teddy hates being wrong."

Bruce laughed and nodded, "I guessed." He grinned at the little boy, "Maybe I'll ask her one day."

"Does Aunty Minnie know you love her?" Tori asked, looking up at Bruce curiously.

"Err, I haven't told her, so I don't know if she knows or not," he winced. He jumped a little when his phone rang, pulling it out and frowning a little at the screen. "This will just take a second, alright guys?"

"Okay," they nodded as Domi inspected her foot.

He smiled at them and flicked it open, "Hello? Oh, Doctor Heisenburg, I – what?" He dropped the smile. "This weekend? Tha-that's it? Really? But – but I thought it'd take at least until Thanksgiving? They found it earlier…and we'll begin the gamma radiation project as soon as we get back to America? Well, yeah, that's – err – that's great news, Sir. Yeah. I am bristling with anticipation. No sir, that was not sarcasm." He rolled his eyes and slumped lower in his seat, "Actually, I'm watching these kids – their uncle is in the hospital, so I can't come in right this minute. Right. Yes. You too, sir." He shut it and huffed, rubbing the bridge of his nose before looking over at Teddy and Tori.

"You have to leave Aunty Minnie, don't you?" Tori whispered.

"I don't want to," he admitted, hitting his head against the chair. "I hate my job more than ever now."

"Then quit!" Teddy grinned.

"I can't – they need me," he sighed.

"What do you do, anyway?"

"Ever heard of Captain America?"

"The guy they dug up out of the ice?" Tori blinked, "Yeah, Mummy and Daddy were talking about it once."

"Well, he had a super soldier serum injected into his body. Our lab is trying to reconstruct it, and we needed to find a – " he stopped by the glazed over look beginning to form in Teddy's eyes. "Well, we found it, and now we have to go back to America."

"Don't leave my Aunty Minnie, Bruce!" Tori begged.

"Juice!" Domi exclaimed, making Tori and Teddy whirl around to gape at her.

"What?" Tori blinked at her sister.

"Juice!" Domi grinned.

"Did Domi just say her first word?" Ginny asked, blinking at her nieces as Hermione started to smile at the little girl. "Her first real word?"

"What made her say 'juice'?" Ron asked.

"Juice!" Domi pointed towards Bruce, making Hermione laugh loudly.

"Oh, Bruce, she thinks your name is 'Juice,'" she laughed, sitting down beside him and smiling at Domi.

"Ahh, I'll let her have it," he shrugged, smiling over at her, "Good job, Domi."

"Yay, Juice!" she grinned, spreading her arms out, making the adults laugh.

"How's Harry?" Bruce asked Hermione.

"Broken a few ribs, but he'll be fine," she answered, rolling her eyes.

"How'd he do it?"

"Being stupid."

"Hey," Ron and Ginny frowned at her, as Harry had been playing Quidditch when he got hurt. She shrugged and shook her head at them, smiling as Teddy pushed against her knees out of boredom.

"Can we go home now?" Tori asked, rubbing an eye.

"Sure, Love, you can come and see Harry later tonight," Ginny said, letting Ron pluck Domi out of her seat and grabbing Tori's hand, reaching for Teddy's.

He reached out for Hermione's face and kissed her on the cheek, "I love you, Aunty Minnie."

"I love you too, Teddy," she grinned before he finally left with Ginny and Ron.

* * *

**Ohh, you're all going to hate me in quite a few chapters, I can feel it.**

**Love,**

**Ava**


	9. Here We Are Now

**Has anybody watched the series finale of The Closer on TNT because let me just say "asdfghjkl oh my god Brenda no don't leave me I love you please stay I'll give you all the candy you want if you stay please please nooooo" And that is all.**

**Just one more chapter until he leaves and you all begin to hate me for a few chapters after that. Hopefully you'll like me again eventually.**

**Also, if you listen to Paul Anka's version of 'Smells Like Teen Spirit,' you will understand how much I want to play this at my wedding because of reasons. **

* * *

"Hello, hello, hello, how low? Hello, hello, hello, how low? With the lights out, it's less dangerous. Here we are now, entertain us. I feel stupid and contagious."

"Is that a swing version of Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'?" he asked, making her scream and whirl around at him, gaping at him before grinning sheepishly.

"I like swing music and this song," Hermione admitted as Bruce laughed and shut the door, walking over towards her and grinning down at her.

"I've never heard of this before," he chuckled before offering his hand, "Dance with me?"

"Ooh," she grimaced and backed away, "Yeah, no, because I haven't danced since I was fourteen and you're making me, aren't you?"

He grinned and towed her over to him, "It's for your own good."

She laughed and danced with him until the music stopped, when she laid her head on his chest and he swayed them in her kitchen, his chin on her head. They stayed like this for a few moments, both lost in their own thoughts before he pecked her on the head.

"I love you, Hermione," he muttered to her, making guilt crash down around her and make her heart sink into her stomach.

She hugged him closer, "I love you too."

"Hermione?"

"Hmm?"

"I…I've got to leave this weekend."

She froze before pulling back, looking up at him as he winced, "What?"

"I – they found it way earlier than anybody expected, and now…."

"You – you have to go back to America," she tried to smile, but it wasn't really working, "I get that. I – I kind of knew that on the way in. I just thought…."

"Yeah, me too," he said before pulling her back into him, burying his face into her neck and sighing, "I hate my job."

"I hate your job too," she muttered, making him smile a little against her skin.

* * *

**Okay, there were multiple things last night that prevented this from being any good.**

**A) Oreo-o's Anon on Tumblr made me want to touch Vincent van Gogh's face**

**B) Oreo-o's Anon was a follower and I had to find them and be friends with them**

**C) By the time I'd found and befriended Oreo-o's Anon, I was so tired I couldn't even spell correctly.**

**Sorry.**

**Love,**

**Ava**


	10. Just Say Something

**And now _this_ chapter. God I don't want to write it. Not because of what goes on in it, I'm fine with screwing up their relationship (pfft) I just…don't feel like writing it. I just want to skip over it and go on and on with the fluff. **

* * *

"You could quit," she insisted, rolling over onto her stomach to face him, although they were lying on her couch. "Stay here with me."

He smiled, bringing her head down to sort through her hair, "I want to. Believe me, I want to."

She sighed and kissed him, pouting when she pulled back, "When is your cab coming again?"

He groaned and checked his watch, "Thirty-five minutes."

She winced and sat up, "Then…we've got to talk."

He sat up with her, looking at her curiously, "About what?"

She bit her lip, "Me, kind of. That sounds bad, but…uhmm…do you remember when you were a kid, and you'd have all of these crazy worlds you never wanted to come out of? Well…I was rather born into one."

"Hermione, you aren't making any sense," he said slowly.

She whimpered and drew her knees up, wincing at him before covering her eyes. "I'm a witch."

He stared at her, and stared at her, and kept staring before he rubbed his eyes, "What are we talking about?"

She groaned and stood, grabbing her wand and pointing it at the candle in front of him on the coffee table. It lit, making him blink at it before looking curiously at Hermione. She flicked it and the candle began to float, making him gape at it and lean into the couch.

"Oh my god," he managed as she sat down in the chair away from him, pulling her knees to her chest again as she let the candle down and extinguished it.

"My parents were normal, I was born different," she started, "I found out when I was eleven, and Hogwarts is actually a school for magic. There's Tranfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Arithmancy, Charms, Herbology, all of these amazing classes. Harry – Harry's parents were killed by a seriously dark wizard, and he should've died but he lived. So as we grew up there, we slowly had to get ready for a war. It got serious at the end of fourth year – a seventh year, Cedric Diggory, was killed during a tournament between two other schools plus Hogwarts. Harry and Cedric were both from Hogwarts, somebody had set Harry up to it. This mad woman in fifth year tried to take over Hogwarts, and she used this blood quill to scar words into our hands. Harry still has his – can't get rid of it, she made him write it so much. Dumbledore, our headmaster, was killed in our sixth. And we ran when we should've been in seventh year. Horcruxes are dark magic, they're part of a person's soul so that nobody would ever really _kill_ you. Voldemort had seven. We hunted down six of them and destroyed them, and there was an altercation where we were kidnapped and tortured – well I was - and there was a battle at Hogwarts. Voldemort died, and George…George had a twin, named Fred, and he was killed, and our old Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and his wife and Colin Creevey was killed, and we all try to move on and forget about it, but even years later we still have those moments." She glanced at Bruce, who was gaping at her with a hand halfway running through his hair. She opened her mouth to say more when a car horn made them both jump.

She looked up at him as he stood, looking between her and the door, and she leaned further into the chair and tried not to cry. "You can go, I won't stop you. Just – just please say something."

He looked back at her and opened his mouth before looking at her desperately, not knowing what to say. The car honked again and she nodded him along, letting him step through the door and down the steps. As soon as she heard the door close, she lowered her head onto her knees and let out a sob.

* * *

"My witch is a girlfriend," he shook his head and fixed what he'd mumbled in the middle of the noisy airport, "My girlfriend is a witch. She's like Samantha on Bewitched, only British." He rubbed his temples and sighed, switching on his internal monologue now. She was a witch. She'd been through a war at seventeen and watched her friends die. And all she'd wanted was for him to tell her straight out what he thought. Except he hadn't been thinking anything other than his girlfriend being a witch.

"I've got to call Hermione," he muttered, digging out his phone only to have to go to his plane. He groaned and grimaced at it before shutting it off and shuffling into place. He could call her when he landed.

* * *

"Hermione?" Ginny asked tentatively, sliding the door shut as she slipped into the room.

"I told him and he didn't say anything," she whimpered into the pillow, Ginny immediately rushing forward and sitting on the side of the bed to pat her on the back, "I can't blame him. I couldn't believe it when McGonagall told me."

"He'll call – Hermione, he loves you, I know it. Isn't he in one of those arkplanes?"

"Airplanes," she picked her face up and looked at her wearily.

"Right – and they don't let anybody use cell phones on them, right?" she asked before turning a little serious, "I'm actually asking here. Harry used that excuse and I've always been curious."

"Right," she smiled a little.

"If he doesn't call you, we better start watching the news, because he cares about and loves you so much, Hermione, I can see it."

* * *

"Just – just give me my phone, Doctor," Bruce pleaded, hanging off the plastic table.

"Doctor Banner, honestly, unless this is some life or death situation, you should not have possession of this," Tomas insisted, setting Bruce's phone with the other scientists', "Give me one good reason why you need it."

"It's just one phone call, one life altering phone call," he insisted.

"To whom?"

"My girlfriend."

"Doctor Banner, you are not a thirteen year old going through his first romance! We are working with _gamma radiation_, confiscating your phone is for your own safety!"

He picked up the box and began to leave with it, making Bruce stand and groan and wander over to slam his head in a wall.

"Banner?" Heisenburg asked curiously.

"Heisenburg," he turned around and winced at him, "Please tell me when this will be done."

"A year and a half, we're nearly there, don't worry," he smiled before trotting off to another scientist, completely missing Bruce groan and slide down the wall.

"I should've quit," he muffled into his arm, glaring at the other scientists.

* * *

**…Was that good? Decent? Okay? **

**Love,**

**Ava**


	11. Help From All Around

**Let's skip this forward a bit (because I hate writing things that are not all that important or don't make me smile. Like, that's my criteria on writing. "Is it important to the story?" No. "But does it make me smile at all?" No. "Then let's not write it.")**

* * *

"Doctor Banner, are you alright?" Heisenburg asked, seeing the young man once again slump over his desk and glare at something. He'd been doing that for months, but whenever somebody asked what was wrong, he'd shrug and say that it was nothing. Heisenburg was expecting a similar answer, but got something different.

"You remember that professor in England, and you wanted to know how I knew her?" he asked, finally sitting up, "She was my girlfriend. And before I left she told me something that she went through and I couldn't even think straight. And every day after that, I feel like ramming my head into a wall. Because she thinks I don't care about her when, really, my job is mostly for those who aren't terribly social." He glanced at him as he tipped his chair back, "No offense."

"None taken, you're right anyway," he shrugged, before leaning towards Bruce a little, "Hermione Granger is actually the smartest witch of her generation."

Bruce gaped at him before he was sent crashing to the floor, popping up and staring at him as he grinned a little.

"Squib. Did she tell you what that was?" Bruce shook his head numbly. "Born to a magical family, but not magical. Ahh well, science is close enough anyway. But you're right – she has been through a lot. Her and her friends – every time I see her, whether it's in a normal setting or with witches and wizards from all over the world, I never understood how she could get herself to smile. I think it was because she surrounds herself with people who care about her. Doctor, she let you get close enough."

"How am I supposed to talk to her though?" Bruce asked as he finally stood, "I can't call her, Tomas is under the impression that if any of us uses a cellphone we'll implode, and she's told me multiple times that she can't read any of my handwriting, and I don't think I've even seen a computer in her house, let alone if she could even have an e-mail address."

"Go to her, then," he shrugged.

"How? This project – "

"This project is taking you away from somebody you care about," Heisenburg frowned.

"But the board – they'd never let me go."

He shrugged, "I'll tell them you had a family emergency."

"Will they buy it?"

He snorted, looking at him dully, "Just because I don't have magic, doesn't mean my family doesn't. I can call in one of my brothers, or even my sister, and we'll get you out of trouble."

"Thank you," Bruce grinned.

"You might want to leave now when nobody will notice you're gone," he advised before slipping out of his office.

* * *

"What's the matter – you locked out, Honey?"

Bruce looked up at the woman, her hair rumpled and her short clothes askew, looking at him curiously.

"Ahh, no, I'm just waiting for someone," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

The woman glanced at the door before she tilted her head at him, "Why don't you tell me what's going on?"

He glanced back at her before sighing, "Alright. Last year, my job brought me here. We were staying a few months, and I met a woman and fell head over heels for her. She's smart, beautiful, funny – you get it, I doubt you want to hear me go on and on about her, although I think I could. Anyway, my job then decided to go back to America, and right before I left she told me something and I couldn't tell her anything because the cab was _right there_. I couldn't tell her it was okay or that I understood or that I still loved her – my brain wouldn't work until I got to the airport. And I got to America and my phone got taken away because I'm working with gamma radiation, and the guy who took my phone is a jerk and wouldn't let me have it back. So one of the scientists is letting me slip out of the country, and here I am sitting on her front step. I don't even know if she still even lives here or if she's even single, or if she hasn't moved on and gotten another boyfriend and is up there right now with him and that thought is driving me mad! And I didn't say that before I met her, that is completely her!"

"So you're sitting out in the cold, after you've flown from there to here, on the slim chance that she'll hear you out?" the woman blinked.

"Pretty much," he sighed, frowning a little when he saw his own breath.

She smiled softly at him, "Well, good luck, Honey."

"Thanks," he muttered to the ground. The woman walked off, leaving him alone for a few moments before somebody sat down next to him and wrapped their arms around his neck. He stiffened before blinking at the crazy brown curls.

"Hermione!" he grinned, hugging her back as she smiled against his neck.

"You have rubbish hearing – I've been standing at the door ever since she asked if you were locked out."

"So you heard all of that, then?"

She laughed and pulled away before grabbing the front of his shirt, towing him over to her so she could kiss him, "Yes, you barmy man, I heard you. I love you too."

He beamed at her as she stood, grabbing his hand to help him up and shove him into her place. Once she shut the door, he kissed her, running his hands through her hair. He pulled away, but she stepped into his arms and buried her face in his chest.

"I missed you," he murmured to her.

"I missed you too."

* * *

**OKAY SO – Ava decided not to be a jerk and stretch out their separation far more than necessary. (Because Ava likes fluff.) But he was gone for a year, leaving sixth months left on the project, so he'll have to go back (or will he?) But that's a bridge we'll cross when we come to it. **

**Also, school is starting Monday (I don't wanna go I hate everyone I don't want to grow up yet don't make meeeeee) so I dunno how frequent updating will be. It'll change throughout the school year, as I like acting in plays even though I'm so awkward, but I _will not_ abandon _any_ of my stories – even if I haven't updated in a year (like whoa, hey, don't even bring up _Two Months Together_ or _The Return Trip_, that just makes me feel incredibly guilty, don't do it) I'm still working on it, I just have other ideas I want to work on rather than that. (Yes I pick favorites _shh don't tell the others_) But this story is actually pretty fun to write _BECAUSE IT IS MAINLY FLUFF_, so you guys really have nothing to worry about.**

**Love,**

**Ava**

**PS - yes that was a hooker a hooker helped them get back together pfffft**


	12. Back

**I don't want to go to school. I hate everyone and I'm about 90% certain everyone either hates or ignores me, so why should I go? Don't pull the "learning" stuff on me either – my school thinks it's smart to give us a two minute break in between classes and have us run from upstairs by one end of the school all the way downstairs to the other end of the school and think we'll make it in time. "Why were you tardy? You have no reason for being tardy!" "The bell – wheeze – just –wheeze – rang a second ago – wheeze – I just – wheeze – coughed up a lung back on the staircase, you – wheeze – cow!" This is funny because she liked zebra print, and her last name was "Bull." SO MANY PUNS, NOT ENOUGH TIME.**

* * *

She wrinkled her nose, frowning at whatever was gliding along the side of her nose. Somebody gave a light laugh and pulled away, but she thought nothing of it, instead attempting to go back to sleep. As she started dozing off again, she felt somebody hover over her and peck her temple softly. She opened her eyes, as she couldn't remember who would do that, and smiled when she finally did. She shifted closer to him, laying her head on his chest before she frowned and looked up at him.

"Don't I usually wake up before you?" Hermione asked as Bruce smiled down at her.

"Yes, but I just got back from America – my inner clock is off."

She smiled at him and shut her eyes again as he began to play with her hair, "You said 'back.'"

"Huh?" he asked, looking at her curiously as she peeked an eye open and smirked.

"You said that you got 'back' from America – like you started off here and went there and came back. Not the other way around."

"Well I came _back_ to you," he murmured to her as he pulled her closer into his chest, pecking her hair. "That make sense?"

"Mmhmm," she hummed, "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Coming back to me."

He smiled, "Always."

* * *

"Okay, now I'm not sure if Charlie or Bill is completely over our – err – 'separation,' but everybody else should be fine," Hermione said as Bruce stared up at the Burrow, tilting his head and squinting at it. "And I have to remind you – they're very weird. I still can't get used to all of them, and I've known them for years. Just try to go with whatever they throw at you, that's the best advice I can give, and if somebody does something that confuses you, you can ask me or Harry. And I'm fairly certain Arthur will bug you for Muggle – err, normal people – stories about the simplest of things. The first time I met him, he asked me what the purpose of a rubber duck was."

"What is the purpose of a rubber duck?" he turned to her, arching an eyebrow.

"Really, I was twelve then, so I just stared at him until his wife changed the topic," she murmured, walking up with him to the front door and opening it. Several people looked up dully and shot her a smile before taking a double take to see who she'd brought. Dominique beamed and rushed towards Bruce first, hugging his leg.

"Juice came back!" she exclaimed.

"Bruce?" Tori and Teddy echoed, peeking their heads out of the kitchen before beaming as well. "Bruce! Aunt Ginny, Bruce came back!"

"NO NO NO NO," Ginny screamed, tearing past them and up the stairs, two at a time, rushing for her older brothers, "NO!"

"Bruce!" George exclaimed before hugging Bruce, making him wince at Hermione as she held Domi and grinned at him. "You came back for me!"

"Actually, I think it was more for Hermione than you, George," Harry laughed as he pulled George off of him, "Welcome back, Bruce."

"Thanks, Harry," he smiled back as Ron shook his head at his older brother, Jack and Jane rushing up to him and smiling brightly at him.

"So you know, then?" Jack asked before his sister could, "Isn't it neat? Magic? Has she shown you much?"

"Ahh, no, not a whole lot," Bruce admitted.

"We are going flying later, and I think we could even start up a game of Quidditch," Jane hummed before smiling at Hermione, "Hermione hates Quidditch, don't you?"

"I hate _heights_, I never said anything about Quidditch," she frowned as Domi played in her curls.

"What's a Quidditch?" Bruce asked her.

"It's a wizard sport – like a combination of football and brooms," she hummed as he tried to figure out how that would work, "And I mean our football – not American football."

"Oh, that's why that was confusing," he murmured before Teddy and Tori rushed at him and hugged him.

"Thank you for coming back for my Aunty Minnie!" Teddy grinned at him as he grinned back.

"Are you gonna stay forever now?" Tori asked.

Bruce blinked and glanced over at Hermione, who winced back at him, "We're – ahh – working on that."

"Are you gonna leave her though?" Teddy pulled back and glared at him.

"No," he answered, "I'm not leaving her again."

"See?" Ginny said from the staircase, looking behind her at Bill and Charlie, "He loves her, she loves him, get over it."

"But we never get to make anybody feel uncomfortable," Charlie pouted.

"Yeah, Ginny, whenever somebody breaks up with Hermione, we never get to get back at him for it," Bill frowned, "It's either her, or you, or Harry and Ron, or George, we _never_ get to do it!"

"And you probably never will," she smiled before stepping down the staircase and hugging Bruce, "I'm so glad she mowed you over."

"Ginny," Hermione groaned as Bruce laughed.

"I am too," he grinned before blinking at her stomach, "Wow, you're – "

"Preggers?" she grinned, "Yup! I forget how far along I am though, I don't know how other women know, but it's early. By the way, I'm Ginny Potter now – you totally missed my wedding and I'll never forgive you for it."

"Ginny," Hermione and Harry frowned at her.

"Hey, no hating on the pregnant lady!" she pouted before smiling back at Bruce, "Okay, so maybe I'll forgive you _eventually_."

He laughed, "Sounds good."

* * *

**No no brain stahp we aren't supposed to be working on this we're supposed to work on other stuff no no brain stahp dat's bad.**

**What would this ship name be, just asking? Brumione? Herce? (Anybody else think of the Disney Hercules?) Or something creative like with Black Widow and Hawkeye it's "Black Eye" and I thought that was clever because they're master assassins and I'm pretty sure they give people black eyes once a day. So…do you know? Because I don't.**

**Love,**

**Ava**


	13. Let's Just Stay

**Guys, umm, not to be mean or anything, but Bruce hasn't had the accident yet.**

**He doesn't have the other guy yet.**

**There's nothing to really tell Hermione.**

**Also, people are asking if the Avengers are going to show up soon (this was like a while back)**

**Not soon like "next chapter soon" but like…eventually, yeah. **

**A few people from the other story are like "wow yay for you I like this EVEN THOUGH I KNOW WHAT YOU DO LATER ON yay goodie for Ava"**

**I love reviewers, honestly. You're all so much fun.**

**Also, I'm thinking about deleting the other story and just leaving it as a Father's Day oneshot. I might do that after the first week of school, dunno yet.**

* * *

"Bruce…Bruce? Bruce. Love? Please don't make me call you 'Juice' to get your attention."

"I'm up," he mumbled into his pillow, although he heard a snort as a pressure was pressed onto his lower back.

"I can see that," she said sarcastically, "But you have work, right?"

"Not if you don't mention it," he muttered, hugging the pillow now as she ran her hands through his hair.

He'd gone back to America, although this time Hermione had taken him and spent the night with him. She'd said that there were other ways travelling faster, but that he probably wouldn't like Floo and his fireplace wasn't hooked up anyway – he hadn't even bothered to ask about that as he was still spinning from his first Apparation. She'd sat by him on his couch and pecked his head, promising that it'd get easier if he ever wanted to do it again. He only shook his head at that.

"Bruce Banner, you aren't getting fired because of me," she frowned, tilting to meet him face to face.

He grinned at her and picked his head out of the pillow a little, "I thought you wanted me to quit?"

"That was when you thought I was Muggle – it's completely different now," she smiled, "Now I can just pop over and see you, no big deal."

"No big deal, she says," he snorted and sat up, grabbing her waist and pulling her into him as she halfheartedly tried to pull away from him with a laugh. "She can just pop all over the world on a whim – no biggie." He crossed his legs around her, although she picked her legs up and tossed them over his as he closed his eyes and set his chin on the top of her head. "They don't know I'm in, so it's fine."

"Where do they think you're at?" she questioned.

"My great aunt's funeral in France," he said before grinning at her when she looked at him curiously, "I don't even have an aunt, let alone a great aunt."

"How would you know she died, though, if you didn't have a phone?" she asked.

"Heisenburg said he'd lie and say he got the call and told me," he shrugged.

"So people can call him?"

"On his home phone, yes."

"You don't have a home phone?"

"No."

"Why didn't you get one and call me?"

"I only had your number saved on my cell."

"Excuses," she teased as he frowned at her mockingly before he wrapped his arms around her tighter and lightly bit her shoulder, making her give a little scream and try to get away as she laughed.

He grinned against her skin – perhaps he should quit, if they could spend every day like that.

* * *

"Hermione, America!" he yelped, grabbing her arm and dragging her back onto the sidewalk. She winced at him sheepishly as he grinned at her.

"Right side, yeah, oops," she muttered as he laughed and laced their fingers together, waiting for the sign to change so they could walk across the street. She looked around at the screens on the buildings as he watched her in amusement. "Who's the man on a few of these screens?"

"Tony Stark?" Bruce asked before shrugging, "Some billionaire with his father's company – Stark Enterprises. They're actually working on something called a Stark Expo – I forget where that is though."

"He seems…" she tilted her head at a screen before he began to drag her away, "Arrogant."

Bruce laughed and grinned at her, "Probably."

"So you're working on a super soldier serum too, right?" she asked as they crossed the street, "What was his name again? The one they tested it on?"

"Well, his alias was Captain America, but his real name was Steve Rogers – I've seen the files, he was a really scrawny kid from Brooklyn. Wanted in the war so badly – had a friend, too, he made it in, but something happened on a mission…." He frowned at her suddenly, "Don't you already know this?"

"I'm rusty," she grinned as he smirked at her, "Well I only know what the wizards do, I don't get the Muggle paper."

"Can you say that that freely?" he asked curiously.

"I'll probably never meet these people again in my life, and they'll more than likely think I've gone 'round the bend," she shrugged, "It's fine, I just can't go up to somebody and do magic or say that I'm magic right off the bat – actually, there are a lot more rules than you think."

He hummed before smoothing her hair back and placing a peck to her head, "You'll have to tell me sometime."'

"When do you have a free day?" she asked, grinning up at him, "It'll take a while."

"I'll have to see," he grinned back, tugging her into his side and pecking the side of her head as she leaned into him.

* * *

**It's only Thursday and I feel as though somebody squishes my eyes all the time and that there's a midget permanently hanging onto my shoulders.**

**Not to mention that I want to audition for Oklahoma, which if I get even a chorus part will take a boatload of time and effort, let alone a speaking part. But that's if I don't mess up my audition like the other times.**

**But dammit _I need Bruce and Hermione fluff to get me through the day_. **

**Plus I might be maybe kinda gonna fail math.**

**_Shhhh don't tell Bruce._**

**Also, a 'hearse' is what everyone kept saying 'Herce' reminded them of. Which is the thing that the funeral hauls dead people around in. Thanks for catchin' that guys, because I sure didn't.**


	14. Painful, But Love's Still There

**Do I have to write an opening author's note or can we just go right into the story?**

* * *

"Did Hermione ever tell you that she – "

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Hermione stood from the grass and glared at George as she approached the two, "What were you going to say?"

"Just that you were an awesome lady hero," he grinned and lightly punched her in the shoulder, but she only looked dully at him.

"George, honestly," she snorted, rolling her eyes at him.

"Fine – I was going to tell him that once you got so brilliantly drunk that we convinced you to do the 'Risky Business' slide for Ginny's birthday," he grinned.

"That is a rubbish lie," she frowned before grinning at Bruce, "I never get drunk."

"So – you did that voluntarily or it never happened?" he blinked after her as George chuckled.

"I dunno – you tell me, you are a scientist after all," she winked as he gaped at her before Ron ran into her, grabbing her shoulders and looking her squarely in the eye.

"There's been an attack on Aurors, we need all the help we can get," he said very seriously, making George walk over to them as Bruce looked at them curiously, "Hermione, can you and George help? I wouldn't ask if we were _that desperate_."

"Of course," Hermione nodded before turning back to Bruce, "I'll be right back."

"Harry James Potter, let me go!" Ginny demanded, glaring at her husband.

"Ginny, you can't," he frowned back.

"This is discrimination against pregnant women _everywhere!_" she yelled.

George rolled his eyes, "Ginny, you can't go. Stay with Mum, Bruce and the kids, make sure none of them freak out."

"Like I said, we'll be right back," Hermione said before pecking Bruce on the cheek and shooting him a grin.

Ginny watched sadly as Harry, George, Ron and Hermione popped away, "Fred said that before…."

Bruce winced at her, "So…figure out any baby names yet?"

She shook her head and blinked, focusing back on him, "Oh, no, we don't even know the gender yet…but, don't tell Harry, if it's a boy or a girl, I want to name it after his parents."

"That's nice," he smiled.

She shrugged, "The first James and Lily Potter didn't get to see how great Harry was in person. Hopefully the second will."

"Is what they're doing…is it _that_ dangerous?" Bruce asked, eyeing the place where they'd left worriedly.

"I'm going to be perfectly honest with you, Bruce," she sighed, "If it's bad enough that they had to get Hermione to go, it's bad."

"What did all of you have to go through before?" he asked.

"C'mon," she nodded her head towards the house, leading him inside and up the stairs to a small library. She tugged one of the thicker books out from the shelf, sitting next to him on a couch and opening it up so that it rested on their legs.

"That's Lily and James – Harry's mum and dad," Ginny said, pointing at the laughing woman and the beaming man. She looked at Bruce in amusement as he blinked at the pictures and looked closer at it. "You've never seen a wizarding picture before, have you?"

"No," he shook his head as she pointed to the one on the next page.

"That's Hermione's parents," she said sadly, "She took away any memories of her and hid them in Australia when the war got bad. She can't find them, and even if she did she wouldn't know how to fix them."

He looked closer at the picture. This one didn't move, but the smiling woman looked straight up at them, her husband busy grimacing as he held a ginger cat. A young girl, around fourteen, was sitting beside him and laughing up at her father. The women both had curly brown hair, although her mother's was much more tamed. Her father, though, had a rather golden hair color, and his glasses were askew.

"They look happy," he smiled.

"It was before everything went terrible," Ginny sighed, turning the page and wincing. Bruce looked and saw George, laughing with a photocopy of himself as Hermione shook her head at them and tried to repress a grin.

"He has both ears?" he blinked.

Ginny snorted, grinning at him, "Of course he did. He wasn't always saint-like, you know."

Bruce only stared at her blankly and she gave a laugh.

"Sorry – inside joke," she smiled, "Fred and George were in our house at Hogwarts – they loved pulling pranks." She released a sigh, smiling at the picture, "It took him forever to prank again after Fred…died."

"He looks like fun."

"Oh he'd hate you," Ginny sniffed, "More protective of Hermione than anything else – rival only to me, of course. He and George really treated her like part of the family before she really got close to Harry and Ron."

"This is actually a great family," he smiled.

She laughed, "Yeah, it has it's moments." She looked at the page and smiled, pointing to another picture, "That's Harry's godfather, Sirius, and Teddy's dad, Remus. They were friends with James – had this group, the Marauders, and they'd go around pranking people when they were in Hogwarts. Remus taught us one year, it was the most we'd learned from any of our Defense professors. He was a werewolf, but we still liked him."

Bruce helped her turn the page and blinked at what he saw. Ginny laughed at his expression.

"That's Tonks – Teddy's mum. She was a metamorphmagus – they can change their appearance at will. She loved having her hair pink and would change her nose for our amusement at dinner. Also, she was Sirius's cousin, and a brilliant Auror, although rather clumsy."

"I can't get past the pig nose," Bruce muttered, making her grin again.

"Teddy hasn't shown you his yet, then," she chuckled before smiling at another page. They spent around an hour doing this, Ginny explaining everyone in the pages, making him learn about Dumbledore, Snape, even her late uncles Fabian and Gideon. This was all abruptly halted when they heard Hermione yelling, although they couldn't make out the words. Bruce bolted from his seat and rushed to the stairway, Ginny on his heels.

"George Weasley, put me down!" she yelled at him, attempting to shove off of his chest.

"Hermione, your ankle is broken – I'm not putting you down!" he yelled back as he fought with the girl.

"How's Harry? And Ron?" Ginny asked, adding Ron as an afterthought.

"Cleaning up the mess, few bruises and sore spots, but they should be fine," he sighed, rolling his eyes as Hermione leaned over his arms and tried to weigh herself down. "Hermione, stop that, I've played Quidditch every day since I could, I'm stronger than I look."

"Put me down!" she demanded once again as Bruce and Ginny stepped off the stairs.

"I will when we get you fixed!" he yelled back.

"George!"

He sighed and dropped her on the couch, making her bounce and wince at him. He shrugged as Bruce and Ginny frowned at him, "She was yelling in my good ear."

"That's your only ear," Hermione frowned, her hands hovering over her ankle.

"That's why it's so good," he sniffed before turning to his sister, "Where's Mum?"

"Outside with the kids," she said, sitting beside Hermione and rubbing her back as Bruce carefully sat down by her ankle.

"Are you alright?"

"Of course not, she broke her ankle," George rolled his eyes as he went into the kitchen.

"_I_ didn't break it, that bloody woman broke it!" she snapped back, rolling her eyes and smiling at Bruce, "Yes, I'll be fine. Magic is brilliant when you get hurt sometimes."

"Do you have a good story already, or do I have to wait for my husband or brother to come back?" Ginny asked eagerly.

"It's Harry's turn to tell it," Hermione smiled as Ginny groaned and pouted. Molly Weasley stepped through, George carrying Teddy on his back, Tori on one leg and Domi on the other. She stepped over to Hermione, frowning at her as she looked up at her sheepishly.

"In my defense, she Stunned me," she said as the older woman sighed and got out her wand, pointing it at Hermione's ankle and mending it. She smiled gratefully at her, "Thank you."

"How's your brothers, dear?" Molly asked dully.

"Umm, Ron has a big stomach and Harry has a scar on his forehead…" she started before grinning at the woman as she snorted and playfully frowned at her. "Fine, a few cuts, I think, but they escaped better than I did."

"And the other Aurors?" Ginny questioned.

"Umm…all of them are fine, although I think somebody broke Dennis's leg," she answered.

Harry and Ron chose then to step through the front door, grinning mischievously at Hermione.

"Hey, Hermione, how's the ankle?" Ron teased as she glared at him.

"Do you want us to tell the story of how, when you got Stunned, you tripped over a rock?" Harry sniggered.

"Shut it!" she ordered, "I pulled off a very complicated maneuver even you two can't do!"

"Oh yeah," George snorted before turning to them, "Aren't you two supposed to be the Aurors? Hermione and I took down more than you two did."

"We were helping the hurt Aurors!" Ron glared.

"Should've been Healers then," Tori spoke up innocently as her uncles frowned at her. George laughed and ruffled up her hair as Domi detached herself from his other leg, toddling over to Bruce.

"Juice!" she said, reaching for him. He blinked, but smiled and leaned down to pick her up and set her next to him. But she frowned at him and crawled onto his leg, leaning into his chest as Hermione grinned at the scene.

"God, just get married and pop out a few kids already," George snorted, making Ginny stifle a laugh as Molly frowned at him admonishingly.

"George, they can get married whenever they want," she said as Hermione and Bruce both blushed and Ginny stuffed her fist into her mouth to keep from laughing at them.

"So, who  
wants to hear the story of the Golden Trio and the Fight for the Ministry?" Harry asked.

"There's already one with that title," Hermione said dully, leaning into Bruce's shoulder.

"And besides – I was there too," George frowned.

"Okay, okay, umm…The Four Weasleys and the Fight for the Aurors?" Ron guessed.

"I'm not a Weasley, Ron!" Hermione laughed.

"Neither am I – we're not ginger, remember?" Harry grinned as Bruce chuckled.

"The Four Former Gryffindors and the Fight for the Aurors then?" he frowned.

"Ehh…" the three chorused.

"It's a mouthful," Ginny said as Molly took a seat in a chair.

"Alright, how about you figure out something?" he glared as he picked up Tori and hugged her.

"Aww, poor ickle Ronniekins," George teased as he ruffled up his younger brother's hair, "Did we make fun of you?"

"Stuff it, George," Ron waved him off.

Hermione rolled her eyes and looked up at Bruce, "I'm so sorry you have to deal with them."

"It's fine," he chuckled, "They're entertaining, at least."

She laughed back, settling back into his side.

* * *

"Oh my god, why do I agree to go fighting with them?" Hermione groaned into Bruce's pillow as he chuckled at her.

"Sore?" he questioned as he got ready for work.

"I am Jell-o – I am the new Jell-o, I am Cherry Flavored Gryffindor," she said.

He chuckled, "So you just want to pile up in my bed all day?"

"Please?" she whimpered, pouting at him as she laid on her back.

"So long as you don't mind being alone all day, sure," he grinned, leaning over her and bracing himself against the headboard.

"Who says I have to be alone?" she smirked.

"I have to go to work," he grinned back, "Didn't you say that you didn't want to be the reason I got fired?"

"That was then, this is now," she gave a small shrug before wincing at the movement.

He chuckled again and kissed her, waiting until she slowly wrapped her arms around his neck for him to pull back and head towards the door, "Bye, I love you!"

He shut the door just in time for the pillow to thump against it.

"You're a prat!" she called as he laughed. He headed towards his front door and stopped when he heard her open the door and stick her head out. "I love you too, you barmy man."

He grinned and winked at her before heading out of the door, leaving her to head back to bed.

* * *

**I regret absolutely nothing.**

**BUT I do regret making myself sad over Fred.**

**Frrreeeeeeeddddiiiiieeeeeeee e.**

***pouts***


	15. Sometimes We Can't Even

**So long story short I went to the ER last night and they took blood and I'm sick and can't go to school until Thursday but the good news is I played Nancy Drew games all day and ate yummy potato soup the bad news is I missed out on learning to dance for the musical I want to be in. **

**I always get sick and miss those.**

**Whatevs though.**

**It's good news for you guys.**

**PS – my face/arm where they took blood/head/stomach/everything hurts.**

**PPS – foul-mouthedness at the end of the chapter. You have been warned.**

* * *

"What're you doing?"

Bruce looked up from his phone at her as she smiled and sat on the edge of the bed, watching him, "I'm trying to figure out the day we started dating. Do you know?"

"No," she chuckled, "Why do you want to know though?"

"It'll bug me if I don't," he frowned back at the screen, continuing to go back in the dates.

"Hey," she interrupted once more, "How'd you get your phone back?"

"Tomas finally decided that I wasn't radioactive. Was it in February?"

"It snowed or rained in February."

"I guess it wasn't February then."

"I guess so," she smiled, lying down on her stomach and running her hands through his hair. He smiled, closing his eyes and pausing in his task before it all came crashing down on him.

Which is a fancy way of saying that he dropped his phone on his face.

"Ow," he muttered, making Hermione finally sit up and laugh as he picked the device up and glanced at the screen, giving a victorious smirk when he found the date before frowning at her. "You'll never let me live that down, will you?"

She only laughed harder and shook her head, leaning into his side as he sighed and rolled his eyes, although he was grinning at her.

* * *

"Bruce!" Harry grinned as the scientist stood awkwardly in the doorway of his office, "What brings you here?"

"Umm, if Hermione asks it's because I wanted to see how you work," he said, stepping further into the office.

"But really?" Harry prompted.

"Can I close the door?" he asked, shutting it when he nodded. "Actually, I wanted to ask a few questions."

"Oh, sure, no problem, but – and I'm not being rude – why don't you just ask Hermione?" he sat forward in his chair as Bruce winced and sat down across from him.

"Because – uhm…" he shook his head, "How long had you been dating Ginny before you asked her to marry you?"

"Uhm…well sixth year," Harry sat back in his chair, thinking, "Technically we weren't dating seventh…two, three, four…uhh, so long that I lost track?" He grinned before looking at him curiously, "Wait a second…do you - ?" He suddenly lit up like a kid in a candy store, "You want to marry Hermione?"

"Shush," he hissed, "Yes, I do, but I don't know if she'll – "

"Of course she'll say yes," Harry interrupted, "She's barmy mad about you."

Bruce could only grin at him, "Thanks."

"Just, ahh, a word of advice," he started as he began to leave, "Make sure not to tell the Weasleys – my wife included – until _after_ you ask Hermione."

He snorted and looked at him curiously, "Why do you think I asked you and not Ginny?"

They grinned at each other before he left, walking out into Muggle London and finding Hermione in a small cluster of people, all of them asking her questions. He started towards her and was about to fight his way through the people when a man in a black hoodie – the hood of which was drawn tight around his face, only his nose sticking out – broke through and flapped his arms.

"CAW CAW MOTHERFUCKERS!" he yelled, making Hermione and Bruce blink at him as the group of people had either similar reactions or ran off screaming. The man turned to Hermione and saluted before running off, letting out a '_CAW CAW!_' again as he leapt through the air.

"I…can't even…." Hermione started as Bruce walked over to her and they stared after the man.

* * *

**Can you tell I'm sick I'm actually funny right now even though I can't write hahaha oh the irony of it all.**


	16. Great Advice

**I am so disappointed in some of you.**

**It was _Clint Barton_ that chased away those people from Hermione! There's a gif swimming around Tumblr with him saying that, and I thought everyone had seen it before. Apparently not, sorry. **

**And in that part I imagined Natasha standing on the sidewalk watching in horror at what her partner was doing. When he got back and fixed the hoodie, all she would be able to say would be "_why?_" He would shrug and say "they probably do it to pigeons all the time." Natasha would then question the sanity of her partner at that point. **

**_God,_**** I put too much thought into some of these things.**

* * *

"Hey, quick question, are you free tonight?"

Hermione winced and closed her eyes, making a small, quiet whining sound over the phone, "No, I have to go to the Ministry and try to get the Prophet off of my and the Weasley's backs. Rumors floating around – I'm ninety percent certain that foul Skeeter woman has cooked up an alias and is writing under _that._ Oh, I'm so sorry, Love."

"Oh, no problem – any idea when you'll be home though?"

"Extremely late, I suspect, they enjoy dragging these ordeals out as far as they can and seeing my hair frizz up."

"It frizzes?" Bruce sounded slightly amused at that.

"If you get me mad enough, yes. I'm like a cat – it puffs up before I start fighting."

"Remind me not to make you mad then."

She gave a light laugh, "Alright. I love you, I'll see you when I get home."

"Alright, I love you too." Bruce looked down at his phone with a frown before sighing, sliding down the front door of his – well, really, their, she practically never went back to her house – apartment. He stared out in front of him, his thumb running over the smooth surface of the box in his jacket pocket. He let out a groan and thumped his head on the door, pouting a little.

He stood and muttered to the empty apartment, "I'm not a Griffin-thing, Hermione, I am not that brave. It might be months before I get up that amount of bravery again."

He shook his head and took his jacket off, hanging it by the hood on the bed post and laying back on a pillow, closing his eyes and thinking.

Before long, though, he was woken up by somebody pecking his forehead, the lighting much darker than when he got home. He blinked and looked up, smiling as Hermione winced at him.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, settling down next to him as he turned and lay on his side, reaching a hand out to play with her hair, "That took far longer than I expected."

"What time is it?" he asked, his voice still groggy with sleep.

"Nearly one – but, of course, time zones and everything," she said, slipping in closer to his chest and smiling when he wrapped an arm around her waist. "I'm still so sorry."

"Don't be," he murmured to her before grinning, "Your hair didn't frizz."

She snorted, "Which is a miracle in and of itself. They made me talked to Skeeter."

He held her tighter, freezing before whispering urgently, "Hermione, where did you hide the body?"

She snorted before laughing, pulling back a little and grinning back at him, "It only _nearly_ came to blows, believe it or not, although she froze when I threw out vocabulary she didn't know about."

"Like what?" he asked gleefully.

"Mostly American slang either you taught me or I heard here," she shrugged, smiling back at him.

He chuckled and pressed his forehead against hers, smiling at her as she hummed and closed her eyes. Soon enough she was asleep, Bruce dozing back off as well.

* * *

"Just do it, man!" George yelled.

"Believe me, I'm trying," Bruce sighed, hanging his head back and frowning up at the ceiling, "But every time I want to, something comes up."

George frowned at him before holding his hand out, "Give me the ring."

"What?" Bruce snapped his head up and frowned at him, "Why?"

"If you aren't going to do it, I'm going to ask her for you," he insisted, reaching out for his pocket, "Give me the ring."

"No!"

"Bruce!"

"No, George!"

"C'mon!"

"What're you two doing?"

Bruce and George's eyes widened and they put a considerable amount of distance between each other, staring at Hermione as she looked between them curiously.

"Nothing," they answered together, making her arch an eyebrow at them.

"Yeah," she said unbelievingly, "George, stop torturing my boyfriend."

"Why do you always assume it's _me?_" he huffed, "Maybe he abuses me."

"Bruce wouldn't abuse anybody, unless they gave him cause to," she frowned, "Your sister-in-law told me to tell you to play chaperone."

"Uhh, Hermione, I have about a gazillion sister-in-laws," he snorted dully, "Be specific."

"Jane, Jack brought over Melissa," she smiled as George lit up.

"I love being the chaperone to them!" he cheered, grinning over at Bruce as he walked out of the kitchen, "If you don't do it…."

"Shut up!" he called out with a frown, making George laugh as Hermione looked at him curiously. He winced as she began to grin, still with the eyebrow arched. "It's just…umm…yeah. You'll find out later."

She chuckled and shook her head, rolling her eyes and walking away. Bruce sighed and walked into the living room after her, where Jack, George and Melissa had their backs turned to both him and Hermione.

"So Bruce is going to ask Hermione to marry him?" Jack asked in a whisper, although Hermione and Bruce heard and promptly froze.

"Aww!" Melissa cooed.

"_What_?" Hermione asked, making Jack and George gape at her as Melissa answered without looking behind her.

"Bruce wants to marry Hermio- AHHH!" she turned around halfway and screamed, loud and shrill, her hands flying into her hair, "I broke it!"

"George!" Bruce yelled, glaring at the redhead as he held his hands up in a way of surrender.

"Well!" he stalled, "You should've asked her before you got here! Weasleys can't keep secrets!"

"What – I – _what?_" Hermione asked, looking pleadingly at Bruce.

He stared back her before wincing, "Umm…yeah, I…hold on, let me fix this."

"Fix _what_?" she looked like she was panicking, her eyes wide and her fingers deep into her hair.

He winced before leaning forward and leaning his forehead against hers, trying to fight a smile at how ridiculously wide her eyes were.

"Hermione, I love you. But I hate the fact that I left you behind. I hate the fact that my job came first in that situation. It shouldn't be like that, and it won't be like that anymore. The number of times I thought about quitting _just _for you is startling, because I thought that I wouldn't want to. But you, you crazy, beautiful, smart, funny girl – you are the reason my coworkers hate me now. And you make me learn something new practically every day – not just about magic, either, although there's a great deal of that. Your brain is a worldwide encyclopedia, and I love that about you, because you are never boring. So – and thanks for the spoiler George," he shot another look to the redhead over her shoulder, who was shrinking down behind Jack, who was hiding behind Melissa. He glanced at the staircase, where Ginny, Ron and Harry were standing, kids around their legs, watching, and he was assuming the other Weasleys were standing around somewhere and watching as well.

He took a breath and pulled back from her, fishing around in his pocket before kneeling down. "Will you marry me?"

She gaped at him before covering her mouth with her hands, staring at him with the same round eyes before reaching her hands up into her hair, her mouth forming a smile, "What do I do with you, you barmy man?"

"You marry him, that's what!" Ginny called out from the stairs before slapping her hands over her mouth, everybody around her glaring at her.

Hermione laughed and crouched down in front of Bruce, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him. She pulled back and was smiling again, "Good advice, Ginny, I'll have to follow it."

"Thank Merlin!" Ginny crowed, the others laughing as Bruce kissed Hermione again.

* * *

"You're late."

Bruce winced and stood beside his seat at the long table, rocking on his feet a little, "Uh, yeah, I was – err, hoping nobody would notice. Sorry. I'll just – "

"What made you late?" one of the men asked, his bushy eyebrows threatening to hide his eyes.

"Umm, err…" he winced, glancing at Heisenburg, "I kind of…had a busy night last night."

"Doing what?" he asked.

"Leave the man alone – he isn't in high school," Heisenburg defended.

"Doing _what_?" he asked again, making Heisenburg glare at the man.

"I proposed to my girlfriend," he stated, making Heisenburg gasp and beam, his hands pressed to his face. The other scientists didn't share his enthusiasm.

"What'd she say?" one asked dully.

"Yes," he said simply.

"How did it take you all night?"

_Because the Weasleys are an incredibly enthusiastic bunch, and we had to be hugged by everyone at least five times._ "Uhh, time zones and whatnot. I had to wait up." _I am such a liar, aren't I? Is this what it was like for Hermione?_

"But –"

"Honestly, we can't go on discussing about Doctor Banner's social life, no matter how incriminating you're sure it might be," Heisenburg cut off, grinning at Bruce as he finally sat down, "But congratulations."

"Thanks," he smiled back.

* * *

**I actually gave a shot at a decent proposal this time. Wow – I never have guys do the "proper" thing and get down on one knee (I have reasons too – I'll yammer on about them next chapter if someone asks me) and if I do, they usually get a wave washing over them to effectively ruin the moment. But, I digress. I hope you liked it.**


	17. What's On Steroids?

**I'm so glad some of you asked why I don't like the whole "on one knee" thing. Feel free to skip this if you want, but you're missing out on some quality laughs here.**

**Okay, I guess the less funny reason is because it's just so traditional. I enjoy a little creativity, especially when I'm writing proposals, so I'd like to do something strange like waiting until she's asleep and slipping the ring on and having her wake up and be all "what is this" and he'll be all "it's a ring duh." So, creativity, basically, just have ideas, they don't necessarily have to hire a sky writer or something (actually that's cheesy too but y'know an example was needed) Just…something that hasn't been done too often. If you're taking notes over this, if not and you ever feel the need to propose to your significant other or you're giving advice for someone who wants to propose. (PS – don't propose on beaches. I will then pray to any and all deities that a wave crashes over you as you get on one knee. Just for humor's sake – not because I hate you or anything.) (If I hated you I'd pray for a jellyfish to be in the wave and sting you in the face.)**

**Second reason, which is definitely weirder, is it's just… Okay, so when a guy gets on one knee, he is exposing his crotch to her. He is completely vulnerable, and he is asking her to change her life and bend it either to or with his (it depends on the guy) If that girl is having a bad day or hates the guy's guts for whatever reason, she has free access to kick him in the nuts. He is in a position where she can do that. Now I understand that this probably never happens, but I just…it _bugs_ me, because I am all for the humor in life, so if I am ever proposed to where he gets on one knee, if I am not crying my eyes out I will feel compelled to kick him in the crotch. I could love him with everything I've got, but _I will want to kick him in the crotch_. Which will severely damage any one hundred percent certain chance we'll have children. **

**So if you're going to propose on one knee gents, _wear a cup._**

**And stay away from beaches.**

**In fact just stand. But not when she's sitting down. Then she can punch you in the crotch. **

**Sorry, I'm being weird.**

**But you asked.**

* * *

"Bruce," she chuckled, making him groan and stuff his head further into the pillow, "C'mon, Love, you have to go to work."

"It's so boring though," he sighed and flipped over onto his back, pouting up at her as she smiled down at him. "You're far better than going into work."

"Today's your last day though, remember?" she smiled as he sighed and shut his eyes, hitting his head back into the pillow. "Last time you have to deal with everyone?"

He hummed, opening an eye before pulling her into his chest, holding her tightly as she laughed, "And then you have to deal with me for the rest of your life! Oh, what were you thinking when you agreed to marry me?"

She laughed a little louder, "I was thinking that I love you and would be alright with marrying you."

"Ooh, good answer," he hummed, pecking the side of her neck before releasing her with a sigh. "Fine. I'll go to work. But I won't like it."

"I wanted you to quit when we started dating, remember?" she said as he stood and stretched. "Should've listened then."

"Oh, I should've," he groaned as he ran his hands over his face, smiling when he pulled them away and found Hermione smiling in front of him. She sat up on her knees and pulled him closer to the bed to kiss him. He grinned and put his forehead on hers when she pulled back, "I love you though."

"I love you too," she murmured, playing with his hair before pecking him once more, "Go get ready for work. I think they'd find something wrong with you going in your pajamas."

"If it's wrong then there's something not right," he retorted before going to go get dressed.

* * *

_Hulk sad._

"Shut up, the Jolly Green Giant on steroids doesn't have an opinion when I'm in control," Bruce muttered under his breath, his hands in his pockets as he glared darkly at the leaves squishing underneath his borrowed shoes. "And when did you start calling yourself 'Hulk' anyway?"

_Hulk saw it on news._

"I didn't see it," Bruce snapped.

_Saw it when smashing._

"Oh, you mean when we – _you_ – were destroying Harlem?" he asked, feeling himself growing agitated before he groaned and slumped down the tree trunk. "Maybe I should just put a bullet in my mouth and call it done."

_What Hermione think?_

A strong pang of guilt and sadness hit him in the chest, making him wince and rub the spot where it hurt, "Hermione can move on and find someone else. She doesn't need to be stuck with me for the rest of her life."

_Why?_

"Because we're sort of a packaged deal now, in case you haven't noticed!" he snapped before wincing, "I can't believe this. I'm having an argument with an illiterate green version of me, who is in my head at the moment. Is this what Doctor Jekyll felt like?"

There was a loud pop, startling Bruce before he blinked at her.

"_There_ you are, you barmy man, I've been looking all over for you!" Hermione said, sliding in next to his side, looking over him worriedly as he gaped at her. "Are you alright?"

"What are you doing here?" he asked blankly.

"I came here to find you," she said, smoothing back his hair as she scanned his face to look for injuries.

"Hermione, you shouldn't be here," he insisted finally, "Hermione, did you see - ?"

"The other guy squish Harlem? Yeah, pretty amusing," she chuckled, "He didn't hurt anyone, Bruce, but you scared me."

"How did you find me?"

She grinned sheepishly, "You have a new, umm, DNA structure that is easier to track. Magic and everything."

He shook his head stubbornly, gripping her shoulder and frowning, "Hermione, I'm dangerous now, you shouldn't be near me. When I get angry, I turn green, and now there's this other guy in my – " He cut himself off and stared at her blankly as she arched an eyebrow at him before he started to grin and cup her face. "You're _magic_."

"Wow, it's been around two years and you've just figured that out?" she teased before he kissed her, tugging her into his lap. He hugged her as she hugged him back. "Now that you don't want me to leave, can you please explain your thought process?"

"Ever since the accident, I've had the other guy in my head constantly," Bruce explained as he pulled away, "I think your magic, or even just you, calms me – him – us – it – down. I hear nothing."

"Oh, so you don't want me to leave now?" she asked sheepishly as she looked up at him from his chest.

He chuckled, smiling brightly down at her, "I never wanted you to leave before the accident, what makes it different now?"

She sat up straighter and beamed before kissing him, "I love you."

"I love you too," he hummed before pulling back and wincing, "Look, there are going to be all sorts of agencies looking after me now. I'd understand if you didn't want to, but - ?"

"Barmy man," she snorted, "Of course I still want to marry you. For better or for worse, right?"

He smiled at her before kissing her again, glad that there was no input from the green guy.

* * *

**Oh Bruce you poor baby I feel terrible I should've just let you stay normal and let you live your life out but instead you were just all 'boo-hoo poor me' and the Hulk was all 'quit whining go back to Hermione' and Hermione was all 'I'm siding with the other guy on this one' and Bruce is all 'oh you're magical' and Ava is all 'ooh I'm tired I should stop now.' **

**I'm done. I promise. Not with the story, just with this chapter. Felt the need to clarify. Love you, bye!**


	18. Smooth Move, Coulson

_"Human, I wonder why you're a better make than I could ever build or create, you know not love or hate." – _"Human," Ellie Goulding

* * *

"Mmn."

_Knock, knock, knock._

"Ugh, what?" Bruce mumbled, rubbing his free hand over his eye, as Hermione was held into his side by his other arm.

"Maybe if we're quiet they'll go away," she muttered.

_Knock, knock, knock._ "Miss Granger? We're with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division. We'd like to ask you a few questions?"

Hermione popped up with a gasp and flung the blankets off of herself, grabbing her wand and clearing her throat, "Oh, yes, just a minute! I didn't hear you over my…shower." She shrugged at Bruce before waving her wand at him, "Please don't move too much or make too much noise, alright?"

"What'd you do?" he whispered.

"You're invisible for a short amount of time," she whispered back, kicking his trainers under the bed and wincing before she sprayed water over her hair and shuddered. "Cold, cold, cold," she repeated as she tugged on a hoodie to hide the shirt she'd nicked from him a while ago.

She padded over down the stairs and opened the door, leaning against the doorframe, "Sorry – what's this about?"

"My name is Agent Coulson," the man said, "As you may know, there was an unfortunate incident with gamma radiation a few days ago."

"Oh yeah – how is…Harlem, was it?" she feigned innocence.

"Under repairs," he responded dully before shaking his head and continuing, "Anyway, the subject to this incident was your former boyfriend, Bruce Banner? We were wondering if you knew of his whereabouts?"

Bruce crept quietly halfway down the stairs, watching as Hermione snorted and tossed her still wet hair over her shoulder.

"I haven't seen him since he went back to America," she responded sadly, "But poor Bruce."

"Oh, well, uh…his colleagues said that he'd proposed to his girlfriend – we thought it'd be you," Coulson cleared his throat, "Apparently not."

Hermione leaned further onto the doorframe, "No offense, sir, but that isn't _exactly_ something to tell his ex."

Coulson blanched, "Err, right, sorry, I'll just…leave now."

"Take care," she said before shutting the door, sliding down and wincing as Bruce was visible once again. "We have _got_ to move."

* * *

**You people are entirely too spoiled. I update this far too frequently. Do you know how people over at _Headaches_ or _Werewolf Worries_ feel? Hmm? They have to wait, like, months for their stories to get updated. You guys better be happy.**


	19. Here Comes Trouble

**Yay Coulson put his foot in his mouth**

**Oh hey funny story my brother got me a lolly in the shape of a foot**

**It surprisingly doesn't taste like feet though.**

* * *

"Hey, Bruce!" Ginny smiled, one hand on her stomach as he blinked at her before smiling back, setting a box down and walking over to her.

He and Hermione had visited the Burrow a few weeks ago, going to their family (Bruce was actually quite surprised that he'd taken to calling them that as well, much to Hermione's amusement, as it was impossible to spend so much time with the Weasleys and not think of them as family) about their dilemma. They'd thought for all of five seconds before Arthur suggested finding a clearing in the woods somewhere and building a house there with magic, as it was roughly what they'd done with the Burrow. Hermione had beamed and pecked the older man on the cheek, calling him 'Dad' by accident, making him, his wife, and his children try to hide their wide smiles. She, Harry and Charlie had gone to go find such a place, Bruce going back to Hermione's flat with Jack and Melissa to begin packing, which Bruce thought was rather optimistic of them until he realized that maybe he was rather pessimistic when he saw Hermione helping them pack as well, already done with the house.

They'd put off moving in until Hermione's rent finally ran out, moving into the secluded two story house where only the Weasleys and a few other friends knew where they were.

"Hey, Ginny," Bruce smiled back, "You come to help me unpack?"

"Hahah, you're funny," she grinned before patting her stomach, "Can't even touch my toes, let alone bend into a box."

"You have magic," he smirked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Actually, believe it or not, my Healer's substitute has been telling me not to use too much magic," she curled her lip, "'Leave some for the baby,' he said. 'Wouldn't want a Squib, would we?' Ugh, prat, I wouldn't care what my baby was, it's my baby and I'll love it whether it has no magic or all the magic in the world."

"Do you have a Hulk too?" Bruce asked jokingly, an eyebrow arched.

"Hah-hah, you're hilari – ow!" she cut herself off and frowned at her stomach.

"It's the Hulk!" Bruce laughed and covered his head with his arms as Ginny snorted, rolling her eyes.

"He's been doing that a lot today, it's hurt a bunch too," she frowned, rubbing her stomach.

Bruce blinked and lowered his arms, looking at her curiously, "Do you have a due date?"

"A what date?" she blinked.

"A day when the baby is supposed to be born," his eyebrows furrowed.

Her eyebrows rose and her eyes widened and her mouth popped open in awe, "They can _do_ that?"

Bruce started to get worried now, "Ginny, when did the pains start?"

"When I got in the shower," she shrugged.

"How long ago was that?"

"I dunno, a few hours."

"Have they been getting closer and closer together?" he gestured with his hands.

"You know, they have!" she hummed, hands on her hips, "How do you know?"

"I know because that's the signs of _being in labor!_" he practically yelled, "What kind of Healer have you been going to?"

"It's a sub!" she defended.

"Why do you have a sub?"

"Because my regular Healer's pregnant too!"

"Ugh!" he groaned, grabbing his phone from the coffee table and dialing Harry's number.

"_Harry Potter_."

"Harry, your wife is in labor and she can't do magic and she's at my house," he said in a rush.

There was a long silence on the other end before Harry finally said something, "_Shit_."

"Mm-yeah," he pursed his lips, "I can't deliver a baby here, Harry."

"_Alright, alright, I'll come and get h – why can't Hermione get her to Mungo's?"_ he asked.

"She went out to get more stuff," he said before something dawned on him, "She's been out a while. Way too long, actually. Three hours, I hadn't noticed because I'd been distracted."

_"Alright, change of plans, I'll get George to take her to Mungo's and I'll get Seamus and Dean to help me find Hermione. Think you can go with Ginny to keep her and George calm until I get there?"_

"Sure, send the guy with an angry green version of himself to calm people down, that makes sense," he muttered, "Alright, fine."

"_Thanks, Bruce_," he said before hanging up.

"What's up with Hermione?" Ginny asked once he stowed his phone away.

"I don't know, but I'm worried," Bruce winced before George popped into the room, looking at his sister worriedly.

"How did you not know you were in labor?" he asked curiously as she grabbed his arm, Bruce grabbing Ginny's.

"It's been a very busy day, okay!" she snapped before George chuckled and popped them away, into the hospital's lobby. Bruce let go of Ginny, but her hand shot right back out for his arm in a painful grip as she cried out in pain. "Remind me never to get pregnant again!"

George side-stepped around making a comeback and waved a Healer over, "Hey, Katie!"

"Oh my Merlin, Ginny's in labor!" she cried out, grabbing the redheaded girl's arms gently and leading her into a wheelchair, "We'll get you upstairs."

"Ginny, what's the name of your substitute Healer again?" Bruce asked as he and George walked alongside them.

"Uhh – Knobbler," she answered.

"Can somebody see that he gets fired?" Bruce asked Katie.

"Oh thank Merlin, now we've got a reason!" she grinned as they went up in the elevator, walking out and onto the second floor, still with a clear view of the lobby. They stopped as there was somebody shouting now, looking down and seeing that Hermione was walking dully across the lobby with a man's arm in one hand, his face bloody with the red pouring from his nose.

"Hi, can somebody please fix his face so I can throw him to Kingsley?" she asked as Bruce held onto the banister, blinking down at his fiancé. Somebody nodded and went to go get a Healer, giving the man his chance to rip free from her grip and swing a fist at her.

She missed it but growled and pounced on him, grabbing his hair and towing him onto the ground so that those within hearing range hissed when his head made a noise against the floor. She sighed and pressed a foot on his chest as he groaned, straightening herself out, "Now Robert, we've been through this. I'm a woman and I can kick your arse. Now stay down."

"My fiancé is amazing," Bruce said simply, making Ginny and George laugh as Katie blinked at him.

"You're marrying Hermione Granger?" she asked before grinning as he nodded. She raised to the banister and began to wave, "Hermione!"

Hermione looked up and smiled, "Katie! And – Bruce?" She blinked as George appeared too and waved as well, "George?" It dawned on her and she gasped, "Is Ginny in labor?"

"It hurts so bad, Hermione!" she called, still in the wheelchair.

"I'll be there in a minute, Sweetie!" She turned to one of the two men that had just appeared, "Dean, Seamus, can you watch Robert here? Ginny's in labor."

"GO GINNY, POP THAT KID OUT!" Dean shouted, making Seamus slap his hand over his eyes and groan.

"Yeah, we can watch him," he grimaced, "We'll be up to see her when she's not angry at everything."

"Thanks guys!" she called, still from the wheelchair, "Hey, where's Harry?"

"Throwing our two guys to Kingsley!" Seamus called as Hermione raced up the stairs with left over adrenaline. "He'll be here in a second!"

"What happened to you?" Bruce asked worriedly, tilting her chin to look at the cut in her lip.

"That would be when they jumped me and I face-planted into the concrete, I'm fine after that," she waved him away with a smile, "We lost a few books though, but I think we can get them back."

Bruce shook his head and pecked her forehead, "Silly girl, why can't you just stay safe?"

"Do you know who you're talking to?" Ginny asked dully. "And, not to sound like it's all about me, but I'm about to pop a kid out of me, and I'm kind of freaking out."

"Don't worry, Ginny, everything will be fine," Hermione reassured.

"First off, go fix your lip, then come and see me in all of my screaming agony, okay?" she said, grabbing the wheels and peddling herself away. "Guide me, Katie."

"Right turn, Clyde," she said, following her as George followed his sister as he shook his head.

"I've got a barmy sister," he snorted, rolling his eyes.

* * *

"Oh, look at him," Hermione cooed from her seat as a beaming Harry carried the baby over to the only couple who was still awake, everybody else in the Weasley clan asleep in every nook and cranny they could fit in.

Bruce smiled at her as Harry deposited his new son into his friend's arms, straightening out and smiling at the scene as well.

"What his name?" Hermione asked as the baby looked up curiously and sleepily at her.

Harry glanced at Bruce with a smile and stuffed his hands in his pockets, "James Sirius Potter."

Hermione's head jerked up and she looked at Harry before smiling as well, "You're going to have trouble on your hands with a name like that."

"The 'Potter' bit was enough," he joked, the three laughing as quietly as they could. "Ginny's exhausted, but happy. Said to let the godparents see him if his grandparents were asleep."

"Oh Harry," Hermione said after she and Bruce looked at each other with wide eyes.

"Well, we always did share the trouble when we were kids," he teased. "Figured Bruce needed a go at it too."

"Yay," Bruce said in a monotone before chuckling with them. He blinked when Hermione began to put James in his arms, eyes going wide. "Uhh, Hermione, I don't think – "

"Shh," she chided, knowing exactly what he was going to bring up, "You're good, and I don't see how this could be anger inducing."

"I might drop him," he hissed instead.

"That's why you're sitting," she whispered back, pecking his head before standing and facing Harry. "Can I go see Ginny?"

"Yeah, c'mon," he nodded her along.

Bruce watched them walk into the room, looking back down at the sleeping baby. He probably would be trouble later on, but for right now he was sleeping and innocent. Bruce's stomach dropped when he came to a realization. The Hulk gene would probably be passed on through any way possible, blood, DNA, whatever. He'd never be able to have kids without the worry of a littler Hulk on their hands. He'd never be a dad. He'd never have kids _with Hermione_.

He glanced back at the door, seeing Hermione reaching down to hug Ginny before looking down at James, who had opened his eyes and was staring at him curiously. He sighed and frowned down at him.

"I really should've quit, huh?" he muttered as the little boy began to gurgle.

* * *

***hides behind arms* Please don't kill me. Please. It's an actual real problem. It had to be addressed.**


	20. We've Got Each Other

**LINK FOR THE 'CAW CAW' GIF: (NO SPACES YAY)** (http):** /** **/ ava-dakedavra. tumblr post / 32132113295 / heres-a-gif-that- i-needed-to-link-to-someone-on-ff**

**Can I just skip them getting married because like I don't know what to do with that what would you do if next chapter they were already married for like a month.**

**I can already feel the glares.**

* * *

Hermione stepped into the living room, pausing when she saw that Bruce had fallen asleep in the chair, turned so that he was facing the window. She looked at him worriedly, as he'd been distracted over the last week. She sighed and pecked his forehead, smoothing his hair back and jumping a little when he wrapped his arms around her waist and tugged her into his lap. She smiled and leaned into him, one hand in his and the other holding onto his shirt sleeve, as she felt as if she would fall.

"You alright?" she asked after a while.

"I think so," he said after a few moments, "I've been thinking."

"It can't be good, can it?" she asked sadly.

He sighed, running his free hand through her hair, "Hermione, we can't have kids together. I mean, if we really wanted them, we could adopt or something, but they wouldn't be one hundred percent _ours_."

She tugged her hand away from his and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his chest, "I know."

They were silent for a few more moments, thinking over their own separate thoughts before he spoke again, "I love you, though."

She smiled, "I love you too." She sat up and sat on the ottoman, grinning cheekily at him, "You know, I think we'll be baby-sitters for a few years."

He grinned back, "Decades, maybe."

She chuckled, pecking his forehead again, "You really need to stop thinking so negatively, Love. It can't be healthy."

He sighed, rolling his eyes, "It's actually harder than you'd think."

"That's why you've got me then."

He smiled, sitting correctly in the chair and kissing her, "I've got you for more than that." She smiled and hummed, closing her eyes as he pulled her into his lap again. If anything, they had each other.

* * *

**I really didn't know how to word everything but I just really wanted them cuddling in a comfy chair.**

**NO REGRETS AT ALL.**


	21. White Sweatpants?

**To ChopSuzi – yes, that was funny, but it was also _extremely sad._ Because the Hulk is actually an okay guy. He's part of Bruce, he doesn't really want to mess up his life, he just wants to protect him and make sure he doesn't get hurt, in a way. So that's why he calms down around Hermione, because he knows Hermione is perfectly capable of making sure that she and Bruce are safe. However, if something ever happens to Hermione where she's in danger and can't keep safe, the Hulk will pop out and kill it. It's like, the Hulk is their guardian, except he's actually messing up more than he means to. He doesn't want them to _not_ have children – he'd probably even let their kids use him as a slide, I think, but the world really doesn't need a two year old Hulk throwing a temper tantrum, and he realizes that and he knows that it's all his fault. Bruce still thinks of him as ruining his life, but Hermione understands that the Hulk and Bruce are actually two entirely different guys, but with the same – err, heart? They both love her and want to protect her, but the Hulk is just like "hey you love my buddy you're alright in my book" not like Bruce loves her – although he could, but that might be weird, I think. I don't really know how to explain this, but the Hulk just wants to make everything okay for those two, but he's big and so he accidentally ends up squishing something. **

**Can you tell I'm in Acting class? I over analyze shit like this and love when I get opportunities to do so. **

* * *

"So when's the wedding?"

"What?" Hermione asked, looking up from James and up at Jack, arching an eyebrow as he leaned further onto the back of the couch. Bruce looked up from the living room floor, where Teddy, Victoire and Dominique were flopping around on him.

"Your wedding, when is it?" he questioned, "It's been ages since he proposed, and we've never had all of that mushy marriage talk like we had when Harry proposed to Ginny."

"Wow," Bruce said as he thumped his head on the carpet, "We're great."

"Err – we haven't really talked about it," she shrugged, as if it were no big deal.

"You haven't?" Molly asked, blinking at her, "But – it's your wedding."

She shrugged again, "My mother always said I was unconventional. When I was younger, instead of pretending to walk down the aisle, I'd pretend to fight monsters." She suddenly realized the irony of this and snorted, "Wow, I just now got that."

Bruce chuckled, holding Domi up above him, "You must've been psychic."

She arched an eyebrow over at him, "I thought you didn't believe in psychics?"

"I didn't believe in magic, either, and now I'm getting married into it," he grinned back. "As far as I know, there are aliens on Pluto."

"Don't be ridiculous – there are no such things as aliens," Hermione snorted.

"This coming from the witch," he smirked as she stuck her tongue out at him.

"But what month are you getting married, who are you inviting, that kind of things that Ginny and Jane thought over for ages," Jack blinked.

Jane frowned at her younger brother, "Oh, stuff it, I bet Melissa will do that to if you ever propose to her!"

"And that's fine, I'm expecting that of her, but it's _Hermione_ and she hasn't planned _everything_ to the _very last detail_?" he asked.

"It is extremely out of character for you, Hermione," Percy noted.

She handed James off to Ginny and spread her arms to the sky, "Live life to the fullest, no regrets, every day is a new adventure! What ever happened to 'loosen up, Hermione'?"

"It ees just – your _wedding_," Fleur insisted, "It ees very strange that you 'aven't at least _thought_ about it."

"What kind of dress are you wearing?" Ginny prodded.

"A white one," she teased before she glared at her, "Fine, I'm going in sweatpants now."

"Can't you get ordained from the Internet?" Bruce asked, "We can get one of these guys to do it."

George, Jack and Ron lit up and beamed between the two as Hermione grimaced.

"I wanna do it!" George stood and waved his arm.

"No way – I brought it up!" Jack argued.

"I've known her longer!" Ron said.

"Yeah, but you were a downright prat to her in first year!" George exclaimed.

"That's it!" Hermione stood with a grin, "We can get the troll to do it!"

"So – Ron?" Harry asked before snorting at the offended look on his friend's face. Ginny cackled as George coughed back his own laughs, Percy hiding his grins behind Audrey as Fleur grabbed Victoire and hid her smile behind her hair.

"Oh, I'm so confused," Bruce sighed to Teddy, who patted his nose sympathetically to make him grin. "Hey, Hermione, what if we get Mister Weasley to do it?"

Arthur lit up like a Christmas tree, "I get to go on the Internet?"

"Yeah, and we can have it right in the backyard, like we did for Bill and Fleur," Ron smiled.

"It's a better plan than we've had," Bruce admitted, standing and hoisting Domi on his shoulders.

"Oh, Hermione, we can make your dress too!" Fleur said excitedly. "Just like we did for Ginny!"

"Alright, sounds fun," she shrugged, smiling at them before looking up to Bruce, "What do you think?"

"I like it," he shrugged, bouncing Domi to make her scream a little and grab at his hands.

"Don't do that, Uncle Juice!" she demanded, making him snort and laugh.

"Alright, I won't anymore," he grinned up at her. She stuck her tongue out at him to make him laugh, the others chuckling at them as well, Hermione a little sadly, but no one else noticed.

* * *

**Wow I'm updating nearly everything all at once all of a sudden. Like, I actually started updating Headaches and Werewolf Worries too. **

**I like this feeling!**


	22. Everybody's Alright

**So some of you may recognize the first bit before you realize "oh hey she completely skipped over the wedding that bitch"**

**Oh well, I have French and Math work to do. _Shhh, don't tell my mom._**

* * *

She hummed, laying her head against her hand, her other hand walking fingers up his back, stopping at his right shoulder to walk across to his left, making her lean closer to him and press her lips on the path she'd made. He smiled as she did this, humming as he opened an eye and saw her tilt her head at him, smiling back before kissing his temple.

"You okay?" she asked, wrapping the blankets around her shoulders and watching as he laid on his side, one arm propping his head up as he grinned at her and swept her bangs back, tucking them behind her ear.

"Yeah. You okay?"

She smiled back and nodded, sliding into his chest and slinging an arm around his waist, "So you're one hundred percent certain that you're alright being married to a witch?"

"So long as you're one hundred percent certain that you're alright being married to the other guy too, yeah."

"Ooh, I feel scandalous," she grinned up at him as he laughed at her, "Married to two guys at once. How exhilarating."

He kissed her forehead, making his way down her nose before kissing her lips, "I love you, Hermione."

"I love you too, Bruce," she hummed, holding him in place as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pecking him on the lips as he smiled at her.

* * *

**Can I end it there without anybody being mad at me?**

**And then can I go and just like…skip a year?**

**Would that be okay? Because everybody who's read the pre/se/crappy-quel knows what happens and I just feel like I need to go ahead and just – but people might not've read that (and they probably won't get to because whoops Ava turned it into a oneshot sorry not sorry) So…what's okay and not okay with you guys?**


	23. Wow, Way to Go

**Wow I need to learn to word things correctly – guys, I'm not done with this story. With that chapter, yes, but not the story. You'll be able to figure out when I start going "oh my baby why no do I have to end it here yeah I do it's done but aww my poor babies" and saying how much I'll miss every one of you.**

**But, today is not that day! I'm not taking any foreseeable breaks with any of my writing, I just wanted to ask if it was okay to skip ahead a year in the story? (Because nothing really exciting happens for a year.) **

* * *

A year had gone by after Hermione and Bruce got married. During that time, Jane and Ron had gotten married as well, Teddy was settling into big-brother-duty for James (as he was his god-brother), Ginny had just had Albus Severus Potter (which had gotten many uncertain looks from George, Bill, Charlie and Ron on the child's middle name), George had begun to date Katie Bell, and Jack had gotten kicked out of university. But he said that he did _not_ get kicked out, that he _chose_ to leave because Hermione no longer taught there and therefore it wasn't fun anymore. But, really, he got kicked out.

Bruce had decided that he needed to bring some good to the world, so every once in a while he left for some less-fortunate country to help them out for a while – it once got up to two weeks, but that was the most – before he went back home and pulled his wife from writing on her books, which had gotten some popularity, but under her maiden name with the inclination that she was studying somewhere in Germany. Or was it France? Really, who could keep track with wherever they weren't?

"Bruce," Hermione laughed as a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and she was lifted out of her seat and into his arms. She kissed him, making him grin as she pulled back. "'Lo. How are you?"

"Awesome, now that I'm home," he grinned, sitting down on the couch with her in his lap.

"You know you don't _have_ to go so often," she reminded him as she wrapped her arms around his neck as he began to play with her hair.

"I know, you remind me every time I come home," he teased, pecking her nose. She stuck her tongue out at him, making him laugh until he pecked her neck.

"Bruce?" she asked after a few moments of him doing this.

"Hmm?" he asked, pulling away to arch an eyebrow at her as she smirked, grabbing his hands and towing him up.

"The bedroom is this way," she said as she began to lead him.

"Who said romanticism is dead?" he teased.

* * *

Hermione dragged her hands across her face, whimpering up at the ceiling before sitting up once more and staring at the box in her hand. It matched. Oh, Merlin it matched. And this was all her fault. She flung the box away and flopped back down. Well, not _all_ her fault, but most of the blame was put on her. _She_ forgot the spell, _she_ led him, _she_ was an idiot.

"Hey – it's nearly noon," Bruce noticed as he walked into their room, setting his bag down and looking at her worriedly, "Are you alright?"

She whimpered again and covered her eyes, "No."

"What's wrong?" he asked, setting on the edge of the bed and dragging one of her hands away. "Hermione?"

She sat up and sighed, biting her lip at him, "You remember a few weeks ago and you came home from Timbuktu – "

"It wasn't – yeah, okay, whatever, go on," he rolled his eyes and shook his head at her, still smiling a little at her.

"And you came home and – and I'm pregnant," she blurted, slapping her hands over her mouth, as she hadn't meant to say it then, but it was said.

Bruce blinked at her before his hands crept into his hair, gaping at her before she sat up on her knees.

"Love, please, say something," she whispered, her hands pressing her hair to her shoulders.

"Wow," he breathed, "I – I mean…wow."

"I'm so sorry," she said.

He sat up straighter and grabbed her arms, "No, Hermione, don't be."

"I forgot and I – I forgot the bloody charm and it's all my fault and I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she said, beginning to break down now as he towed her into his lap, wrapping his arms around her and holding her.

"Shush, Hermione, it's alright," he murmured, rocking her back and forth a little, "It'll be alright."

"Bruce, I'm so freaked out," she cried into his shirt.

"I know you are, I am too, but we'll be fine."

_Need Hulk's help?_

Bruce aimed an irritated frown at his head, although this was wasted and rather silly. _No thanks, we've got it covered._

* * *

"I am fat."

"You are beginning to show – you're not fat," Ginny chided.

"I'm fat and nobody can tell me otherwise," Hermione insisted, pouting at her stomach as she hung off the chair. Bruce rolled his eyes and kissed her forehead.

"You're not fat – you're pregnant," he chuckled.

"I feel fat then," she groaned, tilting her head back.

"Hey Hermione, you're looking particularly blimp-ish today!" George said as he walked down the stairs.

"George Weasley!" Molly yelled, gaping at her son as he stopped and blinked at her, as he hadn't known she was in the room. "You do not tell pregnant women they look 'particularly blimp-ish,' especially not when that woman is Hermione!"

"Hah!" Hermione yelled triumphantly at him as Molly gave him a steady glare before walking out of the room. "Take that!"

George waited until Molly was gone and out of earshot before he grinned somewhat evilly down at her, "You can't get out of the chair, can you?"

Hermione stared blankly at him before she glared, "Screw off."

* * *

**Can you tell how awkward I am? I'm incredibly awkward. Ohhh, I'm sorry. **


	24. Kicking and Sleeping

**I obviously have no idea what pregnant women go through. So she won't be pregnant for too much longer.**

* * *

"Bruce," she whispered, "_Bruce_." She sighed, as he showed no signs of waking up, and grabbed her pillow, thumping it against his side as he opened his eyes blankly.

"Yeah?" he asked groggily as he sat up with her, as it was two in the morning and he didn't really see what there could be to be woken up about, as she was only a few months pregnant.

She grabbed his hand instead of answering, placing it on her stomach as he looked at her curiously. She was focusing, her eyes squinting as she placed her other hand by his until he sucked in a breath and she grinned, looking excitedly at him as he gaped.

"The baby kicked," he said.

"The baby kicked!" she whispered happily. "I'm really pregnant!"

He snorted and blinked at her, grinning at her, "Uhh, Hermione?"

"Shush, I know, I heard it," she blushed with a frown before pecking his cheek, "I love our baby."

He chuckled and kissed her, "I love you both. Now go the hell to sleep."

She sighed loudly and frowned at him as he flopped back down, "You're just jealous because you weren't invited to the kicking party."

He closed his eyes and smiled, tugging her into him as she pouted and glanced back at her book on the nightstand.

* * *

"What's a Diagon anyway?" Bruce questioned as he walked the busy street with Hermione, who was very obviously pregnant by now, with the other Weasleys scattered about the place.

"I don't really know," she hummed, their fingers intertwined as they walked. Bruce looked around with interest, looking curiously at the book shop and arching an eyebrow at a cat, which was meowing loudly as it squirmed in a child's hold. Hermione bent down and readjusted them both, smiling at the gaping boy before going back to Bruce.

"Hey, Bruce, you ever seen Quidditch?" Charlie asked.

"Uhh, no," he smiled back.

"World Cup next month, want to come?" Bill questioned.

"Due date isn't for about three months," Hermione shrugged at him with a smile, "You can go if you want."

"Err, sure," he grinned at the redheads, "Sounds like fun."

* * *

**WARNING: Ava has no idea what pregnant women go through/what pregnancy is like. This is a good thing as she is only fifteen years of age (soon to be sixteen in December) and really shouldn't know first-hand on what happens.**

**Love,**

**Ava**


	25. Hiccups

**Hey guys. Sorry that it's been a while – but I've been busy and I've had homework. Not to mention that I've got a report on magical realism due Monday that I haven't even started yet. But it should be a piece of cake. Supposedly. **

* * *

Bruce couldn't get over the fact that there were actual flying brooms, still hadn't gotten over it since he found out about the wizarding world. Quidditch was confusing whenever Ron or Ginny tried to explain it quickly to him as they were trying to find their seats, but Harry calmed down enough to tell him what was what and he'd managed to get that much. Sports were never his forte, especially not in high school or college or even now, so he at least knew when a team scored (probably thanks to the announcer, that belted out exclamations and a few swear words that threatened to slip through) but if there was something that ever really wowed the crowd, Bruce couldn't see it.

He was actually just surprised at how well he was doing in this crowded setting. He actually felt alright, aside from Ginny cursing next to Harry, who tried not to laugh too much at his wife's exclamations of foul play. Bruce wondered if Hermione was alright, but she'd already been half deep into a paperback book when he'd left, and knew that she'd probably be done with that book and started on another when he got home.

"Bloody Egypt – that was a cheap shot!" Ron exclaimed after the game to his brother and sister, Harry rolling his eyes as he walked behind the three, the other Weasleys trailing around somewhere as Bruce pulled out his phone and reached for a signal, frowning at all the magic that was clouding around his device.

"Let me see," Harry said, offering his hand. Bruce placed it in his palm and Harry passed it back and forth from one hand to another dully before checking again, his eyes widening and his eyebrows shooting up, "You have three voicemails and eleven messages."

Bruce's eyes widened as well and he quickly grabbed the phone, pulling it to his ear and blocking the other from the noise around him.

_"Hey, it's me,_" Hermione's recorded voice came through the little speaker, _"Just called to say that I love you, I'll be hanging out with Luna at McGregor's, call me when you get home? Love you, bye."_

_"Uhm, Bruce, I think I'm having contractions. Luna's insistent that it's Braxton Hicks – oh hush, Luna, it's my body, I know something's up – but I'm not sure. They're far apart though, so – ow! Merlin!_"

_"I'm in labor_," Hermione's voice panted worriedly, _"I'm in labor and we're going to Mungo's and you can't hear this because of the ruddy magic at the Quidditch ga-ame! Ahh! Bruce, please, please get this, I need you here, you need to be here._"

"Harry, you need to get me to Mungo's," Bruce said, quickly snapping his phone shut after checking the make sure that the last voicemail came fifteen minutes ago.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, capturing the attention of Ron, Ginny and George as well.

"Hermione's in labor," he said.

"_What?_" Ron and George yelped as Harry and Ginny's eyes widened.

"But she's not due for another month or so!" Ginny gaped.

"C'mon," Harry said, reaching for his arm.

* * *

"Where's Hermione Banner – or is it Granger – where's her room?" Bruce asked, his head swimming as he gripped the receptionist's counter, Harry, Ron, George and Ginny running up with him.

"203, come on, Bruce," Katie said seriously, ignoring the confused receptionist, waving him along to walk quickly with her.

"What's wrong – I thought the baby was supposed to come next - ?" Bruce began.

"The baby decided to come early – we're not sure if it'll be alright, but we're hoping," Katie said, opening the door and pushing him in, closing it to refuse entry to the Weasleys and Potters.

"Thank God, you're here," Hermione breathed as Bruce zipped to her side, doubled over and wincing as another contraction rippled through her.

"I'm very glad you didn't listen to me when I said it was Braxton Hicks contractions," Luna said, pale enough to make her hair seem even more blonde.

"Thank you for looking after her Luna," Bruce said, "Harry, Ginny, George and Ron are out there, and I think everyone else should be coming in soon."

"Then I best go grab a chair before there aren't any," Luna said seriously.

"Run, Luna, run," Hermione managed seriously, making her smile and peck her cheek before dashing through the door, the strangled sound of her diving into Ron's stomach being heard soon after. They ignored this as Bruce pecked Hermione's temple, running a hand across her back as she slumped into him.

"I love you," he murmured to her, making her smile.

"I love you too," she said before giving a gasp and lurching back into her previous position, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the sheets, "Despite what I'll say later on, I love you very, very much, Bruce."

"I know," he smiled, grabbing her hand and gripping it in his.

* * *

**(I'll leave it here. You guys needed a new chapter, but I'll work on the next as soon as I update this.)**


	26. Beautifully Brilliant

**Okay, so maybe I took longer than ever to update this. Sorry, then.**

* * *

Pain. Extremely painful. She remembered that. And screaming. That too. Some of it sounded as if it were coming from her, and some of it from something else. And somebody had been holding her hand, and it was warm and rough and comforting.

"Hey, Angel."

Hermione scrunched up her nose and opened an eye. Bruce was smiling at her, moving her hair away from her face and kissing her eyebrow as she attempted to focus. She remembered something about the white room she was in, and somewhat scratchy sheets and unbelievable pain, and then somebody had said something about drugs and –

"Oh!" Hermione sat up quickly, making her gasp as her head protested this action.

"Whoa," Bruce lurched with her, guiding her back down and looking at her worriedly, "The doctors said to wait a while before you try running a marathon."

"What about the baby?" she asked urgently, resting against the pillow and watching her husband's face.

He gave a giant grin, "They're showing her off. Something about her being the daughter of Hermione Granger or something."

"Her?" Hermione's face lit up and he nodded, watching as she began to beam, "We have a daughter?"

"What do you want to name her?" Bruce asked.

Hermione's head whirled, partly from the medication and partly from the excitement of having a daughter. She wasn't worried about anyone from the wizarding world discovering the fact that she was married or now had a daughter, as the wizarding world mostly kept its celebrities and well-known people to itself.

"I was thinking Natalie," Bruce said when she'd been silent for a while, obviously thinking.

"Natalie," Hermione smiled, "I like it. And Joan for a middle name?"

He grinned back and pecked her temple, "Perfect."

"Brilliant," she hummed back before frowning at him, "Now when can I see my baby?"

Before Bruce could give her an answer, Ginny walked through the room, holding a little pink bundle. Her eyes were red, blotchy and watering, and she was giving a big sniff every few steps.

"She's so beautiful," Ginny murmured, handing the baby off to Bruce, who gaped down at the little squirmy bundle. Natalie opened her eyes and stared up at him sleepily, rubbing an eye with a pudgy hand. She yawned, her fingers stretching and curling, smacking her lips at her parents.

"I love her," Hermione said, laying her head on Bruce's shoulder and looking down at the baby. Bruce looked over to her and smiled, kissing the top of her head.

"I love both of you," he murmured into her hair.

* * *

**Aww. That was sweet. How'd I do that? I dunno. Hopefully I can pull it off again someday.**


	27. Two Syllables

**Hey, guys, what's it been, five, ten years?**

**I'm sorry…except not really. Do you realize how hard it is to keep up with schoolwork and family and friends and play rehearsals and then try to figure out where the frickin' 'j' key is on your keyboard? (Honestly, we don't use 'j' all that much, and whenever I do need it, I'm on a mad dash to find it, even though it is cleverly hidden in between 'h' and 'k'. Not that it took me months to find the 'j' key, I'm just (oh hey, look, 'j') saying that I've been tired and busy and running low on ideas.) **

**_BUT_**** I probably won't let it happen again.**

**Maybe…**

**It's a strong possibility though.**

* * *

"C'mon, you can – no, c'mon Natalie, you can do it," Bruce grinned at the toddler as she held on to the coffee table before sitting herself down and staring at him. Natalie was nearly a one year old and Bruce and Hermione were trying to teach her to walk and talk, although it proved difficult as Natalie just wanted to play. She already had tufts of black hair that were curling, and her eyes were big and brown as she stared curiously at her father.

Bruce sighed and smiled at her, picking her up and lifting her up into the air as he laid on his back, making her giggle a little, "You are so stubborn. You totally get it from your mum. Hey, how's about you try that one? C'mon, let's surprise Hermione when she gets home. Two syllables, Natalie, that's it. C'mon, try – 'Muh-ma.' That's it. Please?" He groaned as she stuck her fingers in her mouth and looked at him blankly. He brought her back to his chest, wrapping his arms around her and frowning a little. "Totally get it from her."

The front door opened and shut, making the two look up as Hermione groaned and leaned against the door. Bruce winced and sat up, still holding Natalie. Hermione had gone to the Prophet again to argue with Skeeter again, something about leaving "her, Harry, Ron and their families the hell alone." Apparently, Hermione had meant what she said that when she got angry, her hair inflated. It was actually rather frightening, to be perfectly honest.

"Hey," he said as she opened her eyes and gave a half smile, sitting down on the couch as he pulled himself and Natalie up as well. "How was – "

"Awful," she groaned, covering her eyes with her hands, "Sometimes I believe that woman simply _lives_ to make our lives complicated." She unveiled her eyes when Natalie was deposited into her lap, making her smile down at her daughter and peck her forehead, Bruce running his hands through the curls and helping them deflate a little. "It'll work out though, I think. I still have her being an illegal animagus to blackmail her, so that should work if push comes to shove."

"You're evil," Bruce grinned as she smiled back at him, "You here that, Natalie? Your mother's evil."

"Your mum's tired," Hermione sighed.

"Mumma," Natalie commented, making her parents freeze and look between each other before staring down at her. She gave a toothless smile and reached for Hermione, wanting a hug. "Mumma."

"She said it," Hermione breathed, eyes wide.

"Maybe she's not so stubborn after all," Bruce grinned.

"What?" Hermione blinked at him as she hugged Natalie and as he chuckled.

"Nothing," he shook his head and pecked the side of Hermione's head.

* * *

**It's awful after being gone for months, and I'm sorry, but _I really really want to get into the Avengers soon._**


	28. Prelude to a Long Week

**Alright before I was all like "Guys we can't just skip into the Avengers, what about Natalie" and then I forgot what the original plot for this chapter was and now I have this uncontrollable urge to write where the Avengers start to come in.**

**_You planned this, you bastards._**

* * *

"I still say you shouldn't go," Hermione muttered, lying on Bruce's stomach, staring at the blue television screen, their movie over as he ran his hands through her hair.

It had been three years since Natalie was born, and the little girl had proven to be terribly mischievous when she wasn't in the company of close adult figures. She'd inherited Hermione's curly hair, but much more tamed and with Bruce's hair color. Her skin had a slight tan, either from genetics or from playing outside a lot. Her eyes, though, were brown, and it was up for debate as to who she'd gotten them from, although it was known that the slight British accent was from Hermione and the Weasley clan.

Being the daughter of a scientist and _the_ Hermione Granger, she was exceptionally smart for her age and enjoyed learning new things. She liked playing with her parents and talking to them, finding out new things about their pasts that she hadn't known before, and even hearing stories over dozens of times.

She knew about the Hulk and how scared her father was of him popping out and hurting either her or her mother, but she eased his worries by drawing a picture and pinning it on the fridge, so that when he walked by it the next time he stopped and crouched down to stare at the picture of him, Hermione, Natalie and the Hulk, all with smiley faces. The Hulk had made his presence known by happily exclaiming "_PRETTY PICTURE!_" in his head, making Bruce give a strangled yelp and fall back on his hands, wincing and rubbing his forehead. Hermione turned and looked at him curiously before laughing, kneeling down to peck his cheek.

"I know," Bruce told his wife, smiling down at her as she pouted up at him, "But I like to help people."

Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes, "I know, I know, stop making me feel guilty."

Bruce grinned wider and kissed her forehead, "I love you, and it'll only be a week this time."

Hermione sighed and hugged him tighter, "It'll be a long week."

* * *

**You win this round!**


	29. Small Interruption

**Yay, the Avengers! Ooh, I'm gonna have some fun.**

* * *

Bruce blinked as the little girl that had told him to help her father went through a small room and out an open window. It took him a few moments before he sighed and gave a small smile, "Always get paid up front, Banner."

A small creak alerted him of another presence, making him turn around and blink at the woman. Her hair was red and cropped short, a wrap along her elbows.

"You know, for a man who is supposed to be avoiding stress, you picked a hell of a place to settle," she said easily, even politely.

Bruce's heart seemed to sail into his stomach as he looked her over, moving to drop his bag by a beam, "Avoiding stress isn't the secret."

"Then what is it? Yoga?" she asked good-naturedly.

"You took me to the edge of the city," he noticed, playing with his hands – what Hermione had always noticed and called it a nervous habit – and walking towards the window, "Smart. I, uh, assume the whole place is surrounded?" He pretended to look out and check for armed guards, but really he took off his wedding ring and slipped it into his pocket.

"Just you and me," she said, tossing her wrap into a seat and standing a little bit straighter.

"And your actress buddy?" he asked, pointing towards the window the child had just climbed out of, "Is she a spy too? They start that young?"

"I did," she shrugged casually.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Natasha Romanoff," she stated simply, her eyes darting over his appearance as he stood in one place for a moment.

He nodded a little and played with his hands some more, opening his mouth after a moment to speak, "Are you here to kill me, Miss Romanoff? Because that's not going to work out. For everyone."

"No, no," she assured, "Of course not. I'm here on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D."

"S.H.I.E.L.D," he repeated, wondering why that seemed familiar. He turned back to her, "How'd they find me?"

"We never lost you, Doctor, we've kept our distance. Even helped keep some other interested parties off your scent."

Did she know? Did they know? About Hermione and Natalie, deep in the woods, assumingly under radar and safe, waiting for him to come home soon?

He took a moment or two to ask, "Why?"

"Nick Fury seems to trust you," she said, which surprised him greatly. "But now we need you to come in."

He stepped a little closer to the door, "What if I say 'no'?"

"I'll persuade you," she said.

_Hermione might not like her,_ the Hulk noted dully, making Bruce try not to grin and agree with the big green guy. Whether this woman meant to persuade him violently or in some _other_ way, Hermione would definitely not like any of it. Nope, if it was the other way, he'd like to be 'persuaded' by his wife, thank you very much. Just because you don't see a ring, lady, doesn't mean it's up for grabs.

"And what if the…'Other Guy' says 'no'?" he asked. _Hulk say 'no' yet?_ –_Ssht!_

"You've been more than a year without an incident, I don't think you want to break that streak," she replied easily. Maybe they didn't know about Hermione and Natalie.

"I don't every time get what I want," he said, moving a hanging basket, thinking back to when he'd wanted a nice, normal family, without having to worry about getting angry and becoming a green rage monster, without worrying about his offspring having the same genetics. He felt sorry for when he was younger, actually, unaware of what all would happen to him. Eh, he couldn't complain. He wouldn't consider being married to a witch any type of 'normal,' and he'd wanted to marry Hermione since they'd started getting serious, before and after the 'witch' thing. Perhaps it was a good thing if he didn't get what he thought he wanted. Turns out what he really wanted was waiting for him to see it as thus.

"Doctor, we're facing a potential global catastrophe," she said, pulling out a phone and looking seriously at it.

Bruce laughed, "Oh those I _actively_ try to avoid."

"This," she showed him her phone, a blue cube that he instantly recognized was on the screen, "Is the Tesseract. It has the potential energy to wipe out the planet."

He grabbed his glasses and checked over the picture, "What does Fury want me to do, swallow it?"

"He wants you to find it," she said, "It's been taken. It emits a gamma signature that's too weak for us to trace. There's no one that knows gamma radiation like you do."

Bruce stared at her, "So Fury isn't after a monster?"

"That's he's told me," she nodded.

"So he tells you everything?" he asked, somewhat dully.

"Talk to Fury, he needs you on this," she decided.

"He needs me in a cage?" he asked.

"No one's gonna put you in a cage - " she started.

"_Stop lying to me!"_ he demanded, slamming his hands on the table. A gun was immediately aimed at his face and he blinked before shrinking back from the table, grinning a little bit. A few silent moments ticked by, Natasha suddenly feeling like the fool as he grinned a little bit wider. "I'm sorry. That was mean. I just wanted to see what you'd do. Why don't we do this the easy way where you don't use that and the… 'Other Guy' doesn't make a mess. Okay?"

She was silent for a few more moments before moving her hand to her ear, "Stand down. We're good here."

He arched an eyebrow as she looked ashamedly back at him, "Just you and me, hmm?"

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "I saw it as unnecessary and uncalled for but – "

"Uh-huh," he brushed it aside, "Tell me, would I be the only one working on this project?"

"No – Anthony Stark is going to be called, as well as another former professor."

"That's very descriptive, thank you, Natasha," he snorted.

She gave a slight frown, "Her name is Hermione Granger." He seemed to freeze and stare at her a little bit harder, "She taught medieval studies, but is adept in any field you put her in. So I've heard."

He got his tongue to move again after a moment, "Even in the battlefield?"

She bit the inside of her cheek, wondering where he was going with this, "Yes. And if she finds herself in the want of doing so, then she has the option."

"Which of your agents has been assigned to 'call her in'?" he questioned.

"Me," she stated, "Right after I get a definite answer from you."

"C'mon," he said, reaching into his bag to grab a keychain, "I'll help you kill two birds with one stone."

* * *

**Any good? Well, there's the Avengers, as promised. You can imagine it as the movie or not.**

**You know, I actually got a review a while back on the first chapter that chewed me out for not including the Avengers and how I lied because I listed it under Bruce B./the Hulk and they hadn't seen any of the Hulk and I just kind of…it was on the first chapter, they didn't even read – no, nope, I'm done. I'm moving on.**


	30. Out of Convenience

**I'm tired and I can't get a snow day.**

**I just can't catch a break.**

* * *

"Hermione?" Bruce asked, towing in a surprised Natasha into his house. Hermione looked up from the kitchen and blinked, stepping towards him and looking between them curiously. "Apparently, I'm being 'called in' to track down the Tesseract because I'm an expert in gamma radiation. You're being called in too."

"That's a problem," Hermione decided after a few moments, still looking warily over Natasha. When she caught Hermione's stare on her, she straightened herself shakily.

"Natasha Romanoff, calling for you and Doctor Banner on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D," she said before releasing the breath, "What did we just - ?"

"Port-Key," Bruce said easily, tossing his keys onto the counter, "Gave a fake conversation to have them listen in on too."

"H-How?" she questioned.

"Science," Hermione lied before walking around the other woman curiously, "I'm sorry, but what am I being called in for?"

"To help Doctor Banner locate the Tesseract and possibly battle against the man who took it," she stated.

"Hmm, yeah, that's going to be a problem," Hermione said.

"How?" she asked in confusion. Hermione opened her mouth to answer her until a little voice cut her off.

"Daddy!" Natalie said happily, racing for Bruce and giving a small squeal when he grinned and lifted her up, hugging her tightly. "I missed you so so much!"

"I missed you too," he smiled, ignoring Natasha as she gaped. "Have you been good for your mum?"

"Bedtime's getting harder to enforce," Hermione hummed before pecking Bruce on the cheek, "Your fault."

"How?" Bruce asked curiously as Natasha seemed to unhook her jaw further.

"She won't sleep until you call her, and with all of the jumping around the world you do, sometimes you don't call until two in the morning," she said before she caught Natasha's stare. "Miss Romanoff, it seems that your records are out-of-date. This is my husband, Bruce Banner, as you've met him, and our daughter, Natalie. I'm Hermione Banner," she offered her hand, seeming rather smug as the woman numbly shook it.

"We – wow," Natasha blinked, "Didn't catch this."

Hermione smirked, "I can see that."

* * *

"I can't go," Hermione murmured, "I won't be able to use magic, and if I do they'll be all 'ah a witch, burn her at the stake' and then we'll cause this huge epidemic again and nobody wants to go through that."

"Plus, if one of us goes, somebody has to watch over Natalie," Bruce muttered back, making her nod before looking up at her husband curiously, looking away from Natalie and Natasha drawing together.

"Do you want to go?" she questioned.

"It'd be nice to actually see normal people – not that you're abnormal," he caught himself as she gave him an amused smile, "But I haven't been anywhere besides here, Diagon Alley, the Burrow and third world countries since way before Natalie was born. I kind of miss it. But I don't trust them. What if they want to put me in a cage and keep me away from you two? What if they find you now?"

"We can hide better, if that happens," Hermione said, "If you want to go…." She stopped herself and waved Natasha over, lowing her voice, "Uhm, just so I know – what is the survival rate for my husband, exactly?"

"Your husband will be fine," Natasha promised, "I can assure you that all of this will remain off the records."

"Really?" Bruce blinked.

She shrugged, "You must've had good reasoning to keep it off in the first place."

Hermione bit her lip as she walked back to Natalie and stooped down to grab a crayon she'd dropped. "Bruce…if you wanted to – I wouldn't stop you." Bruce smiled and pecked her forehead. "So long, of course," she added, "That you make sure to come home in one piece. I quite like my current husband, and would hate to remarry."

Bruce snorted and pecked her lips, "Well, if only out of convenience…."

She chuckled and reached up to kiss him once more.

* * *

**I feel really upset now because Hermione isn't going with him and I just kind of want her and Tony bouncing witty remarks off of one another.**

**It'd be so much fun. I can't wait.**


	31. Much Worse!

**I'm debating on doing an unrelated oneshot of Tony and Hermione bantering. Dunno if I will or not though.**

* * *

Bruce watched nervously as men with guns and ammo and armor walked around on the base of the boat. It was weird, he realized, being around these people who had, at one point, wanted him either dead or in a cage. He realized that this was definitely out of his comfort zone, and he did not like it _at all._

"Doctor Banner!" a man shouted, making him blink and look up from his hands at the blonde, broad shouldered man striding towards him, Natasha giving Bruce a small smile. He recognized him as Steve Rogers from when he'd been working on the super soldier serum.

"Oh, yeah, hi," Bruce said, shaking his hand, "They told me you'd be coming."

"Word is you can find the cube," Steve said, rather nicely.

Bruce bit the inside of his cheek, "Is that the only word I mean?"

Steve shrugged, "Only word I care about." Bruce nodded, looking around once more at the agents.

"This must be strange for you, all of this," he realized, waving around at all of the new technology and differences they'd had with the time frame Steve was from.

Steve gave a grin, "Well, this is actually kind of familiar."

Bruce grinned back.

"Gentlemen, you may want to step inside in a minute," Natasha said, striding up in between them, "It's gonna get a little hard to breathe."

Bruce and Steve looked between each other before listening to the sounds of something being implemented by the machine.

"Is this a submarine?" Steve asked curiously, the two walking towards the edge of the boat.

"Really?" Bruce asked, "They want me in a submerged pressurized metal container?"

They looked down as the water of the ocean began to move and the boat seemed to grow, gaining wings with propellers. The boat rose and they stepped back a little in surprise, Natasha standing by smugly.

Bruce couldn't help but grin, "Oh no, this is much worse!"

* * *

"Gentlemen," Fury said, regaining Steve and Bruce's attention from the computers and screens and the huge windows that showed that they were gaining altitude. If Bruce hadn't had the accident and been so scared of these people stuffing him in a cage at that moment, he might've been grinning from ear to ear.

Steve stepped up to Fury, still looking around as he took out his wallet and began to rifle through the money. Fury waited for him to find the correct bill and hand it to him, making Bruce blink a little and look between them curiously. Had they made a bet or something? What was going on? Did he have to pay him too? He hoped not. Not exactly the ideal transaction of money when you're hired.

Fury walked towards him, extending his hand, "Doctor, thank you for coming."

Bruce shook it after he took a breath, thinking of how he would very much like to have Hermione there as well, "Thanks for asking nicely. So, uhm…how long am I staying?"

Fury waved it away easily, "Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're free to go."

Bruce nodded a little, "Where are you exactly?" Fury pointed to another agent, who was just below the landing he was on.

"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet," he responded, "Cell phones, laptops, if it's connected to a satellite, its eyes and ears for us."

"It's still not gonna find him in time," Natasha noted.

"Yeah," Bruce agreed, "You have to narrow your field. How many spectrometers do I have access to?"

"How many are there?" Fury asked.

"Call every lab you know," Bruce asked the agent as he took off his jacket, "Tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm basic on cluster recognition. At least, we could rule out a few places." Fury nodded a little. "You got somewhere for me to work?" Bruce asked him, rolling up his sleeves now.

"Agent Romanoff," Fury called, making her step away from a computer and walk towards them, "Could you show Doctor Banner to his laboratory please?"

She nodded, leading him away, "You're gonna love it, Doc. We've got all the toys."

Once they were down a hall and heading towards the lab, she spoke again, "Can I ask some questions?"

Bruce took a deep breath, "Shoot. Not –" he caught himself " – not literally."

She arched an eyebrow at him, "Did you meet your wife before or after your – ahh?"

"Before," he stated, "I actually debated quitting that job to be with her before we settled out how we could make the relationship work. After my accident, I thought it wouldn't be safe for her to be around me, but the Other Guy is surprisingly much more silent when she's around."

She nodded, "And Natalie? Is she - ?"

"We don't know," he said, "But she's a very well-tempered little girl. She lets us know when she finds something unfair or mean without screaming or crying. We'll explain it to her, and she'll pout before going and doing what the thing was. She'll be alright after a few minutes. I don't know if that it's her, or we're doing something right as parents, or if some part of her knows that if she gets angry, something bad will happen."

"Interesting," she hummed before smiling lightly at him, "She's very smart for her age."

He grinned back, "Yeah. We're thinking good genes."

"Your wife is extremely intelligent, from her files," she said, "I wouldn't be surprised if it was so." She stopped at a door and opened it up for him, allowing him to enter, "Well, there's your new lab, Doc."

"Thanks," he said, throwing his jacket on a chair and moving to a computer, already getting to work.

* * *

**Ugh. So tired. I was asleep and I thought it was 10:30 and we had a snow day and then I woke up and it was 6:44 and we did not have a snow day.**

**Uggghhh.**


	32. Personal Flying Monkeys

**So the rod in my closet fell down today and I had to sort through stuff and put it back on the rod and I have math homework and also a Mardi Gras float to finish.**

**Screw everything!**

**Oh, and the little blurb in the script was suggested to me by _bookworn2340. _Thanks again, Sweetheart!**

* * *

"_How's it going? Everything alright?_"

"Yeah, it's fine," Bruce muttered quietly into his phone, easily making it look like he was working with his hand propping his head up. Really, he was just watching the coding and programs and blah-blah-blah while he was talking to Hermione. "They tracked down the crazy guy, he's somewhere in Germany. If he tells them where the Tesseract is, which I highly doubt, I might be able to come home quicker."

"_Ooh, I like that idea,_" Hermione said gleefully, making Bruce try to fight back a grin, "_Maybe I could come and give him a little taste of Veritaserum and speed it up a little?_"

"No, I really don't want you here," he shook his head.

"_Ow,_" he could practically hear the pout, "_Fine, gee, love you too._"

He grinned and sat back in his chair, "You know I didn't mean it like that. I'd just really hate it if you had to hex somebody."

"_Are they that bad?_" she asked worriedly.

"Some are a little…inconsiderate, I guess I should say," he hummed, grabbing a Rubiks cube off of the desk and starting to fiddle with it, absentmindedly wondering why it was there. "But Agent Romanoff is nice, as well as Agent Coulson and Captain Rogers."

"_Why does that sound familiar?_" she questioned.

He gave a smirk, glad to find something that stumped Hermione, "Because, Sweetie, he's Captain America."

"_No, not him, I know who he is._" His smirk dropped and he glanced back at the screen. "_I mean Coulson. Why does that name sound familiar?_"

He shrugged, although she couldn't see it, "Beats me. So, how's Natalie?"

"_Very curious as to where her father has gone this time,_" she replied, "_But she's been drawing more. Oh, and she ripped a picture._"

"Oh, was she upset?" he asked, knowing that Natalie cared very deeply about her drawings.

"_No, not really, seeing as she just stared at it for a moment before crumpling it up and then unfolding it, in one piece and completely smooth_," she said dully as Bruce sat up a little. Hermione continued on in a smug voice, "_She takes after her mum_."

"Apparently," he grinned with a small laugh, "I'll try to be home soon."

"_My offer still stands,_" she practically sang.

"I'll keep that in mind," he smiled, running a hand through his hair, "I love you."

"_Love you too,_" she said, "_Stay safe?_"

"Always," he said before the line cut off and he frowned back at the screen before blinking at the Rubiks cube and shutting it up in a drawer.

* * *

Bruce looked up from his table, looking through the window of the lab into the hallway, where guards were escorting a handcuffed man. He took off his glasses for a better look. His hair was long and black, and he had a weird outfit of green and gold. He glanced over and saw Bruce before giving a smile. Bruce decided he didn't like him at all and was very glad that he and Hermione decided she would stay home with Natalie.

"Hey," Natasha said, appearing at the door not long after Loki had passed through, "We're meeting up in the conference room. Big table and everything – think your tracking stuff can wait for a bit?"

"Sure," he nodded, setting down his stuff and following her down the hall. He glanced over his shoulder in the direction Loki had gone with a frown before shaking his head and moving on.

* * *

"These have a screens?" Bruce asked as Natasha sat down at one end of the table and looked down at the picture. She nodded and glanced up at him, shrugging to herself when he still stood. He crossed his arms and shifted from foot to foot, feeling a little bit constricted as Steve sat down as well, a tall, blonde man with a red cape still standing too. Normally he would be fine with Steve and Natasha, but there was also Blondie and all of these other agents that he didn't know and certainly didn't trust.

"_In case it's unclear,_" Fury said from the screen as they listened, "_You try to escape, you so much as scratch that glass…_" A whooshing sound was heard, as well as a slight pause before Fury spoke again over the whoosh, "_Thirty thousand feet straight down into a steel trap! You get how that works?_" The whooshing stopped and Fury sounded particularly smug, "_Ant. Boot._" Bruce furrowed his eyebrows and looked curiously at Steve, who shrugged back at him.

Loki laughed, "_It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me._"

"_Built for something a lot stronger than you,_" Fury responded back as Bruce bit the inside of his cheek and promptly froze from shifting from foot to foot. Well _shit._

"_Oh, I've heard_," Natasha frowned a little bit down at the screen as Loki spoke, "_A mindless beast makes play he's still a man with someone who is not all human either. How desperate are you that you would call on such lost creatures to defend you?_"

Panic and fear and anger swelled up in Bruce's chest. He knew. Holy _shit,_ he _knew_. He had to call Hermione. Had to warn her to hide her and Natalie somewhere. Had to tell her what the asshat had said so she could probably come down there and scare the crap out of him herself. He had to get away from there before something happened. Natasha was looking up at him, nearly out of her seat as if to drag him out in the hall and give him time to breathe. He took a breath and shot her a rather forced smile, reassuring her that he'd be alright. Steve glanced at him as well, while Thor just continued to listen.

"_How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control, you talk about peace but you kill 'cause it's fun. You have made me very desperate. And you might not be glad that you did." _

"_Ooh, it burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power. Unlimited power, and for what? A warm light for all mankind to share? And then to be reminded what real power is."_

_"Well let me know if 'real power' wants a magazine or something,_" Fury responded as he started to walk away.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce joked, grinning sarcastically over to Steve, who looked up at him and kinda frowned.

"Loki's gonna drag this out," Steve said in a sigh, "So…Thor. What's his play?"

"He has an army called the Chitauri," the blonde guy said as Bruce began to pace a little and think, sharing a freaked-out glance with Natasha for a moment, "They are not of Asgard nor of any world known. If he means to lead them against your people, they will win him the Earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

"An army," Steve repeated. "From outer space."

"So he's building another portal?" Bruce asked, taking off his glasses and fiddling with them, "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

"Selvig?" Thor repeated curiously.

Bruce shrugged, "He's an astrophysicist."

"He's a friend," Thor corrected as Bruce blanched a little.

"Loki has him under some kind of spell," Natasha spoke up, making Bruce think for a moment and wonder if there was anything Hermione could do. "Along with one of ours."

"I want to know why Loki let us take him,"  
Steve announced, "He's not leading an army from here."

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki, that guy's brain is a bag full of cats, I smelled crazy on him," Bruce said plainly.

"Care how you speak," Thor frowned at him as Bruce internally winced and covered his head, outwardly staying in the same position and only his eyes widening for a moment, "Loki is beyond reason but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother."

Natasha looked up at Thor, "He killed eighty people in two days."

Thor looked at a loss for a moment before finally coming up with, "He's adopted."

"I think it's about the mechanics," Bruce said, first screening his thoughts before deciding that it probably wouldn't piss off Thor more. "Iridium, what do they need the Iridium for?"

"Stabilizing agent," a voice said from down the hall as he walked into the room, making Bruce blink a little at Tony Stark as Natasha and Steve both rolled their eyes. He turned to Coulson for a moment before turning back to the group, "Means: the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D." He turned to Thor a little sympathetically and patted him on the arm, "No hard feelings, Point Break, you've got a mean swing." He turned to Fury's computers and looked around, "Also – means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants." He waved a little to the agents down below, "Uhh, raise the mist-masts, ship to top sails." The agents looked up at him dully. He pointed to his right, "That man is playing Galaga! Thought we wouldn't notice. But we did." He had a puzzled look on his face and he turned around a little in front of the screens, covering an eye before turning to Maria Hill, who was watching him dully, like a bored babysitter, "How does Fury even see these?"

"He turns," she answered.

He blanched a little with a frown, "Sounds exhausting." He swiped a screen and spoke again, "The rest of the raw materials Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily, the only major component he still needs is a power source, a little high energy density, and something to kick-start the cube."

"When did you become an expert on thermonuclear astrophysics?" Maria asked in the same bored tone, as if dreading the answer.

"Last night," he replied easily as she looked at him in disbelief. "The packet. Selvig's notes. The extraction theory papers?" He looked in disbelief at everyone else, his eyebrows shooting up, "Am I the only one who did the reading?"

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve asked Tony.

"He'd have to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier," Bruce answered before Tony, who lit up a little.

"Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunnel effect," Tony added.

"Well, if he could do that, he could achieve heavy ion fusion from any reactor on the planet," Bruce shrugged.

"_Finally_, someone who speaks English," Tony said, waving to Bruce as he shook his head a little at the others.

"Is that what just happened?" Steve asked, looking at Thor and Natasha as Tony shook Bruce's hand.

"It's good to meet you, Doctor Banner. Your work on anti-electron collision is unparalleled…and I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

Bruce blinked at him before dully saying, "Thanks."

"Doctor Banner is only here to track the cube," Fury announced to Tony and the others as he walked into the room, "I was hoping you might join him."

_But, no, shit, I have to call Hermione and tell her about the asshat and the spells_, Bruce thought but kept his mouth shut as Tony looked curiously over at him.

"Let's start with that stick of his," Steve said, "It may be magical but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon."

_Now I really have to call Hermione._

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

Thor looked curiously at Fury, "Monkeys? I do not understand."

"I do!" Steve said excitedly before getting a little embarrassed and looking around sheepishly at the others, "I understood that reference."

There were a few moments of silence before Tony turned to Bruce, "Shall we play, Doctor?"

"This way, sir," Bruce said, moving down the hallway and trying to figure out a time to call his wife.

* * *

**So many fun references, so little time. **


	33. Are You An Alien?

**Sorry for the long hiatus. I run out of ideas for stories and move on to other stories and it's just this big circle of procrastination.**

* * *

"_He poked you?"_ Hermione's voice was filled with amusement as Bruce sighed on his end.

"Yeah, several times. For some reason he is incredibly eager for me to get mad and turn into the Other Guy," Bruce said, rubbing his eyes and thanking whoever was in charge that the billionaire had stepped out to get food.

"_You have a three-year-old daughter,_" Hermione scoffed, "_Poking does not prompt ang – oh, no, sweetie, please don't do that."_ There was a distant, happy voice that got closer as Natalie climbed into her mother's lap, eagerly asking to talk to her father. "_She really really wants to talk to you, Bruce._"

Bruce grinned despite himself, knowing that he should be paying attention to the cube and whatnot, but finding that talking to his daughter would probably be more productive. "Put her on."

"_Daddy!_" Natalie said excitedly.

"Hey," Bruce grinned wider, happy to hear his daughter.

"_It's a long week,_" she told him simply.

Bruce blinked and furrowed his brows, "What?"

"_When you left you said it'd be a week. A week is seven days. You've been gone for nine. It's a long week._"

Bruce grimaced and checked the door to make sure Tony or anyone else wasn't coming in, "Ah, no, Sweetheart, it is seven days, but I've got to stay away longer."

"_No,_" she whined, the pout in her voice, "_We want you home._"

Bruce grinned again, "And I want to be home, but I have to finish this first. I'll talk to you and your mum soon though, alright?"

"_Alright,_" she sighed, "_Love you. Mummy says she loves you too._"

"And I love you both very much," Bruce said before grimacing as Tony approached with a silver package in his hand, "Gotta go, bye."

"_Bye!_" Hermione and Natalie chorused before he quickly hung up and stuffed his phone in his pocket, turning his attention to the screen.

* * *

Bruce grimaced as he thumped his head against the pile of rubble, looking around curiously and rubbing his head. There was a huge gaping hole in the ceiling, a big pile of rubble he was currently sitting in, and he had no clothes. With a groan, he realized that the Other Guy had taken control once he and the so-called 'Avengers' got into an argument and there was an explosion. Natasha had tried to talk him out of it, talking about Hermione and Natalie, but apparently it hadn't been of any use.

"You fell out of the sky," a man announced above him, standing on the pile of rubble and holding on to what looked like a metal support beam, dressed in security clothes as he looked down at Bruce rather curiously.

Bruce rubbed his eyes and looked up at him, "Did I hurt anybody?"

"There's nobody around here to get hurt," he stated, "You did scare the hell out of some pigeons though."

Bruce grinned a little to himself, glad that no one had been injured before feeling ashamed of getting that mad. "Lucky."

"Or just good aim," he said, "You were awake when you fell."

Bruce looked back at him and blinked, "You saw?"

"The whole thing," he told him. "Right through the ceiling. Big and green and buck-ass nude." He tossed him a pair of clothes, and Bruce thought that maybe it was weird to sit there naked and have a conversation with somebody you barely knew, and he was rather glad that no one else was around to see. "Didn't think those would fit you until you'd shrunk down to a regular sized feller."

"Thank you," Bruce said as he started to get dressed.

"You an alien?" he asked once Bruce stood, shirtless and barefoot but at least wearing pants now.

"What?" he asked.

"From outer space, an alien," he explained.

"Nah," he shook his head.

"Well then, son, you've got a condition," the man stated.

Bruce nodded absentmindedly to him before grabbing the shirt, "You wouldn't happen to know where a phone is, would you?"

The man nodded and reached into his pocket, tossing him his cell phone, making him thank him again and punch in the numbers he now knew by heart.

"_Hello?_" Hermione asked warily, as she didn't know the number.

"Hermione, it's me," Bruce said, running a hand through his hair before staring up at what was left of the ceiling, "I made it _years_ until today."

"_Oh, Bruce_," she said, a wince in her voice.

"Nobody got hurt, at least," he shrugged, "Listen, I think there's something big happening. A battle with Loki."

There were a few silent moments before Hermione released a sigh, "_I understand. But – dammit, Bruce, you better make it home. Please._"

Bruce gave a grin, "Yeah, I know, you'd hate to have to remarry."

"_That and I rather love you, you barmy man,_" she said with a grin, although he could hear her choking up.

"I love you too," he told her, "And Natalie. Just in case."

"_No, don't 'just in case' it,_" Hermione sounded like she was frowning, "_I mean it, Bruce. Please come home._"

He nodded slowly, "I promise."

* * *

**That was weird to write because I really don't want to do too many things with the Hulk in control. Because the Hulk has all of this rage and stuff and I don't know how to write that coherently. What I would love to do, though, is the 'puny god' part. I'll try to see if I can. Also, it was weird to write where Bruce didn't have any pants and was just having a casual conversation with the security guard. **

**Anyway - !**


	34. That's One of Them

**So after like, forever (and an _Iron Man 3_ viewing – omg so amazing I'm still freaking out over it) here is whatever chapter number this is! Enjoy!**

* * *

"_Reports are still flying in on what is happening in New York. There appear to be large alien creatures attacking the city. Many are diving for cover, although there are five – whoa, make that six – remarkable beings fighting these aliens and rescuing citizens. More as the story continues._"

"Mummy."

Hermione jumped and blinked, looking down at Natalie with wide eyes before smiling and shutting off the television, "Yes, Sweetheart?"

Natalie only stared back at her, noticing the tear tracks along her face and the redness in her mother's nose, before she climbed up onto the couch and into the space between her knees and chest before grabbing the remote and turning the television back on. "Daddy will be okay. He's a super hero."

Hermione blinked before wrapping her arms around her and setting her chin on top of her head, watching the news as a large green speck flung an alien at a building, "Yes he is, Sweetheart."

* * *

_"Daddy!"_ Natalie said cheerfully, making Bruce release a sigh and smile a little.

"Natalie," he grinned, looking out at the sea, gripping the railing with one hand, "Hey, Sweetheart. Where's your mum?"

"_Oh, she's cussing,"_ she stated simply, "_She owes a lot of money to the swear jar. She says you gave her a heart attack and that she needs to calm down before she can speak nationally."_

"Rationally?" he asked.

_"Yeah, that one. Daddy, you're wicked. You beat up the bad guys._"

"You saw?" he blinked, straightening a little.

_"Mummy didn't want me to. She said it might give me nightmares. I don't know how, but it didn't. You're really cool, Daddy."_

He smiled a little, relaxing once more as he shut his eyes and released a breath, "Thanks."

_"Mummy wants to talk to you now. She says she's better. She's added fifteen dollars to the jar. Love you!_"

"Love you too," he said as he heard Hermione lightly reprimanding Natalie before she grabbed the phone and took a large breath intake.

_"Bruce Banner, you scared the shit out of me,_" she whispered in a rush, making him grin a little. "_It took you a week to call? I thought you were in a hospital or something!_"

"No, we were just working on a way to get Loki and Thor back to Asgard with the Tesseract."

_"Okay, like zero percent of that made sense._"

"I'm sorry," he grinned before sighing, "Tony wants me to work for him. I need a reason to give him on why I can't. You're smart – think for me."

She was silent for a few moments, just their breathing on the line, before she answered, "_I don't know, Bruce. I – _"

"Hey, Banner, whoever is on that phone is not near as important as you think," Tony said, poking his head through the door to look at him dully as he stood on the balcony, "We are having a kickass 'the Evil God of Mischief is Gone' party, and you're standing out here yakking on the phone – which is terribly rude, I might add. Also – when will you agree to working for me?"

He was silent for ages, Tony watching him curiously, before Hermione whispered in his ear, "_I love you, Bruce. Call often. We'll make it work. We always have._"

"I'll talk to you later," he promised before the line shut off, making him take a big breath before shooting Tony a grin, "Sure thing."

"Great! It's like I was telling Pepper – there are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a fleet of hostile aliens and an insane Norse god is one of them," he said as he lead Bruce back inside.

* * *

**Sorry, it's short, but I'll work on more later, promise!**


	35. I'll Love You Long After You're Gone

**I'm glad someone noticed the quote I had in there, otherwise I would worry.**

* * *

It'd been three months since he'd seen Hermione and Natalie. Whenever he'd gotten back together with Hermione, he'd sworn to himself that he would never leave her willingly, not without a massive fight. And he'd thought it would always be like that – that it would always be them, together, never just one or the other. And when Natalie was born, it was like proof that they couldn't be separated. It was either both or none, or so he thought.

He hadn't put up a fight. He'd given a shaky grin and a quick lie, and he felt horrible. He missed his wife and their daughter terrible, and couldn't complain to anyone except Natasha – who had been on a mission with Clint for two and a half months – because no one knew he was even married, let alone that there was a child involved.

Tony had demanded that he should go between Stark 'headquarters' with him, but Bruce had frowned and told him that he was not his lackey. So they'd agreed that Bruce should stay in Stark Towers in New York – which had been repaired very quickly, although the hole that Loki had made when the Other Guy had tossed him into the floor had been filled with a different color of marble to 'mark the momentous occasion for all of history,' according to Tony.

Bruce would spend at least one day a week walking along New York, glad that nobody knew that he was 'the Incredible Hulk,' and spent time with his thoughts. He called Hermione and Natalie every night, once Tony was either squirreled away or asleep with exhaustion, Bruce stared up at the ceiling as he heard about their day. Natalie would then proclaim that it was a long week, and he would have to explain that a week was still only seven days, and that he had unintentionally lied to her. He would then have to explain to Natalie that lying was still bad, but he hadn't meant to lie to her, and that no, she could not try to lie to her mother or him, it wasn't a very good idea.

It was on one of these days when he was just walking through New York when his phone began to ring. Hermione usually avoided calling him, in case he was with someone who did not know he was married, and so he was surprised to see that she was calling, but pleased none the less.

"Hey," he said cheerfully.

_"'Lo_," she said, a smile evident in her voice. _"So, what're you up to?_"

"Just walking around," he said with a shrug.

_"You bored?_"

"Definitely," he sighed.

_"Miss me?_" her voice sounded rather teasing, and he blinked and began to grin a little.

"Obviously," he said.

"_Well, look to your left over by some outdoor seating for a café then_," she said before the line went dead, making him look over and blink before brightening as she waved and grinned brightly and walked over to him. They met in the middle, hugging each other tightly before he pecked her forehead and smiled down at her.

"What're you doing here?" he asked.

"I asked Missus Weasley if she would mind babysitting Natalie and came here to attempt to sneak into Stark Towers," Hermione grinned, "I came to the restaurant for a map and saw you walking. Hi."

"Hey," he chuckled, kissing the side of her head, "You could've called – Tony's in Miami, I think."

"Shush, I need to keep my soldier instincts intact," she pouted before grinning once again and hugging him, "I really miss you, Bruce."

"I miss you too," he said, smiling into her hair, "I'm guessing you haven't remarried yet, then?"

"Oh, it's scheduled for June," she joked, "I'm just cheating on him for you."

"Well, it's nice to know you still like me," he laughed as she snorted and swatted at his arm. "Want a tour of New York?"

"Uhm, you took me on a tour of New York before we got married," she said, looking at him pointedly.

"Fine – the Tony Stark version of New York?"

"Ooh, how much can I make fun of there?" she asked, holding his hand as he began to lead her down the sidewalk.

"Lots," he grinned, kissing the side of her head to make her smile.

* * *

"Didn't we say we weren't going to do this again?" Hermione hummed dully, making Bruce sigh and tug on a curl.

"I keep thinking that every day," he said, wrapping an arm tighter around her waist. "I should quit."

Hermione grinned against his chest, looking up at him, as they were lying in his bed at Stark Tower, her lying on his chest, "Déjà vu."

"Yeah, tell me about it," he snorted, grinning at her before he noticed that she was staring absently at the collar of his shirt. "We'll make it work, right?"

"Yeah," she hummed, although the smile didn't reach her eyes.

"I love you though," he said after a while.

This time the smile hit its mark, and she looked up and smiled at him, "Love you too,"

* * *

**I won't have spoilers for next chapter. No I won't. I won't do it. Ugh.**


	36. Let Him Be Right

**Shh, don't hate me.**

* * *

Bruce had started to like Thor once they got to know each other better. He was friendly, yet rather at a loss when it came to most things on Earth, but would grin and encourage anybody when they were down. However, he did not like how Thor was sitting on the couch in Stark Tower, Tony fixing a drink as they both grimaced at him as he walked in.

"Holy shit, what happened now?" he sighed, looking between them as they almost sighed in sync and Tony took a swig from his drink.

"Apparently Loki only took a break up at Asgard," Tony sniffed, "Broke out and came back down here, although this time without an army, so we're thankful for that."

"But he said something about a child before he left, and I am worried," Thor shifted nervously on his seat, "We have checked everywhere on Asgard, and no child is missing there."

"But there are a numerous amount of children on Earth," Bruce insisted, "Thousands of missing child reports. It'd be impossible to figure out where Loki would've taken one. By the way – _why_ would he want a kid?"

"Yeah, that's what I'm saying, a majority of them are brats," Tony nodded.

"You were probably remembering from when you were a child, Stark," Natasha remarked, making the three turn and look to her, Clint, and Steve as they walked in, Pepper bringing up the rear with a clipboard and a small BlueTooth device, talking to someone and scribbling things down.

At Tony's questioning look as Bruce greeted Steve and the others, Pepper looked up at him, "I thought they could help. There's a kid out there missing, Tony – all the help possible. Oh, yes, hello, this is Pepper Potts, and I was wondering if you could help me in a new case that has come up."

"We do not need help to track down Reindeer Games," Tony sniffed indignantly, "We can handle just fine."

"Last time, it took all of S.H.I.E.L.D. to find him," Clint offered.

Tony blanched slightly before continuing, "And we handled it just fine. Look, the technology here far surpasses Fury's. We just get the list of names Pepper's writing down, throw it into a database, and match it with the date that Loki broke out of prison."

"Then what?" Steve asked as Bruce's phone began to ring, making him look and grimace at Hermione's number. He glanced back up at everyone before walking off a little and flicking it open.

"Hermione, now isn't the best time," he whispered.

"_Bruce, he took her,_" she replied frantically, making him freeze and gape out the window, "_He-he came in and he took her, I couldn't stop him, I didn't have time, I don't know what to do – Bruce he has our baby._"

"What?" he asked, making the others stop and look at him worriedly. "No, no – what?"

"_I called Harry and George, they've got the whole Ministry on it, but Bruce I don't know what to do,_" her voice shook.

"Come to Stark Tower," he said slowly, "We'll find her." He hung up once he heard her promise a few minutes, making him forcefully breathe before whirling around when someone touched his shoulder.

"What happened?" Tony questioned, holding his hands up in surrender, drink still sitting on the counter.

"He took Natalie," he answered back, seeing Natasha pale and her eyes widen as everyone else shared curious glances. "Hermione's daughter. Professor Granger, she was going to be called in with us, but she stayed behind for her. He took her. I told her to come here; she'll be here in a few minutes."

"Were you close?" Clint asked.

Bruce nodded stiffly and Natasha eased up to him and set a hand on his shoulder, trying to keep any and all tears from falling out.

"Sir, there's a frazzled young woman wanting entry," Jarvis announced.

"Let her in," Pepper and Tony chorused, Bruce walking to the elevator and waiting until the doors opened and Hermione appeared. Her hair was disheveled, she had tears running down her face, a cut on her forehead and a cut on her lip bleeding, looking at Bruce with very wide eyes before she stepped into his arms and broke down, Bruce holding her and hugging her and rocking her a little.

"It'll be alright, Mrs. Granger," Steve promised, making Hermione look up at Bruce before nodding slightly.

"I just – I didn't have enough time to – he was there and then they weren't and I didn't do anything," Hermione said, her voice still shaking as she gripped Bruce's arms to steady herself.

"It's not like you could've done anything," Clint tried. This only made Hermione's eyes water more and step further into Bruce's chest, as she _could've _done something, and so that only made her feel ten times guiltier.

"What does your daughter look like?" Pepper asked softly.

"Uhm, black curly hair, brown eyes, slightly tanned skin?" Hermione answered.

"Jarvis?" Tony asked.

"Running it now, sir," he answered. "How old?"

"Three," Bruce and Hermione answered.

"Do I need to contact a husband?" he asked.

"No," Hermione answered again, "That isn't necessary."

Steve's eyes widened, as well as Thor's, and they turned slightly to Clint in alarm, who had Natasha look at them sternly to keep them quiet.

"Don't worry, Professor," Tony stated, patting her lightly on top of her head, making her look at him curiously with a small frown, "We'll get your kid back."

"Beforehand, I'd like to apologize for Tony," Bruce stated, making her snort a little and lean into him more. He hugged her once again and leaned in to mutter in to her ear, "It'll be fine, Hermione. We'll get her back."

He only hoped he was right.


End file.
